Reunion Twister Quilt- Finished + Sewing Tips

This quilt has been completed for some time too, however I just never got around to posting photos.  Remember the long arm quilting drama that this quilt put me through?  Long story short, the backing was not taut on the long arm machine, thus folded over onto itself creating unsightly blemishes- fail!  I could either live with it (although my perfectionist self would never allow that) or unpick two rows of perfectly quilted circles.  With the help of my mom, I chose the latter.  It took about two weeks or so until the quilt was completely unpicked (not bad, right!).  :)

The quilt was made using the Twister tool by CS Designs.  The fabric consists of a Reunion layer cake, by Sweetwater, and some yardage (refer to the free quilt pattern that comes with the Twister tool for details).

Here is the finished quilt, in all its glory (its had a rough life- see above!).  I opted to wash the quilt after I completed the binding, and all of the holes from the unpicking disappeared- magic!

Here's the back- bunting and chevron stripes, what more could a girl ask for?  :)

Here is a close up of the circles that were quilted by me on a long arm.  Between you and me, the circle pattern is my go to pattern, as I know it will never disappoint!

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If you're interested in making a quilt with the Twister tool, I have a couple of pointers/progress photos for you.

The first step is to sew the 10" squares (layer cake) together, along with the border.  Its amazing to watch the transformation from boring squares to pinwheels.  Its like presto change-o!

For all of the perfectionists out there- here is my #1 tip.  When adding the borders to the 10" block quilt top (see first photo in 'tips' section) make sure to line up the seams.  This photo is an example of what not to do.

This photo is an example of what to do!  :)

If the seams are not lined up, when you cut the pinwheels, you will end up with weird corner seams, as shown in the photo above.

When cutting around the Twister tool, make sure to not cut too far beyond the tool, as there isn't much play room.  If you do cut too far, your next block will have cut marks.  You'll get the hang of how far is 'too far' very quickly!  I also found that using the tool to cut along the fourth side (where the words are in this photo) was too difficult with the angle, etc.  I found that placing my ruler against the tool, removing the tool, and using the ruler to cut along the fourth side was much more efficient.

Once the blocks are cut, make sure you have a design wall, or somewhere to organize the blocks once they are twisted.  I opted to add a small border, although the pattern didn't call for it.  I hope that my tips help should you make your own Twister quilt!

Summer Love- Pick-a-Bunch Quilt

Well, its been well over a month since I finished this fun quilt, but I figure its never too late to share a fun summer quilt, especially with the crazy triple digit weather- right?

I originally blogged about the fabric and quilt pattern back in February.  Have I mentioned that I drag my feet when it comes to binding?  :)  Let's just say that this quilt sat for a couple of weeks (okay, months!) after I quilted it on the long arm.

This is the first time I've incorporated solids into one of my quilts, and I love the splash of color!

I normally like to add a little something special to the backing, but with such a busy front, I opted for uniform back.  I also used green polka dot fabric for the binding, oh how I LOVE polka dots!  :)

Here is a close up of the fun flowers that were quilted by me on a long arm.  I love that the flowers mimic the flowers featured in the fabric.  Its hard to tell, but I quilted with purple thread, to tie everything together.

With summer coming to an end (boo!  Or maybe its a good thing if you get to have more sewing/craft time when your little ones are at school!) what are you working on?

Summersville Baby Quilt

I absolutely fell in love with Lucie Summers' Summersville fabric collection when I first laid eyes on it at Quilt Market last Fall.  With that, I had been looking for the perfect project to use Summersville, when a family friend commissioned me to make a gender neutral baby quilt.  While at Quilt Market this Spring, I picked up Cluck Cluck Sew's new Inside Out quilt pattern.  Ordered some Summersville, and before I knew it I had found the perfect project to use Summersville!  :)

Although the cutting took a good amount of time, the quilt top came together quite quickly.  I used Kona Cotton Snow for the pluses, and absolutely love how the quilt came out.
 

I used a new long arm quilt pattern, and am very happy with how everything turned out.  The parents are NYC dwellers, so I wanted to achieve a modern/urban feel with the quilt.

Since it is a baby quilt, I opted to use fun and quirky alphabet print on the back.  I also couldn't resist adding a strip of the line work/binding fabric to the backing.

This sweet baby is not only getting a quilt, but also a stuffed owl!  Our family friend was interested in learning how to sew.  Like so many, she had a bad experience with her Home Ec teacher in junior high and I had high hopes of re-introducing her to the sewing machine and hopefully overriding her past experience.  I taught my first adult sewing lesson, and we spent four hours after church working on this cutie (pattern is Olive the Owl by Freddie's Friends).  I have to say that I was so impressed with her sweet little owl, and know that the baby will love it!  :)

Lesson Learned- Becoming a Longarm Quilter

I had an appointment to do some long arm quilting today, and unfortunately I left discouraged and a bit defeated.  Please tell me that I'm not the only one that this has happened to!  

This is how today went down- I had two quilts that I wanted to quilt.  The first was MY quilt (yes, I finally got around to making myself a quilt), and the second was the Daisy Cottage quilt that I had started some time ago.  Back to the drama!  I selected the thread color and the quilt pattern, loaded MY quilt onto the machine, and when I advanced the quilt after the second pass I realized that the backing had folded over onto itself.  This picture doesn't really do the oopsie justice (or does it, and I'm just making this whole ordeal worse than it really is?).

At this point, I had two choices, leave the oopsie (folded over back) or rip out what I had quilted (an area that measures 26" tall x 67" wide), and re-quilt MY quilt another day.  Silly me, I opted for option #2.  I've spent approximately five hours unpicking the quilt today, and have not even made a dent.  My goal was to unpick and perhaps re-quilt the quilt on Friday, but I'm almost positive that my timeline is impossible.  I'll just unpick when I can, and re-quilt when I'm ready.  No need to make myself miserable by unpicking for hours and hours a day, right?  :)

After an afternoon of feeling so discouraged and defeated, I saw Stuart cuddled up in my currently imperfect quilt, made me smile.  He loves my quilt just the way it is, and if ever  again (fingers crossed!) the back of my quilt folds over onto itself, I too will love my imperfect quilt.  Lesson learned!  :)

Outfoxed + Be Merry

It's not quite the end of January and I have already finished two quilts!  (Its hard to believe as I'm usually such a procrastinator and its not abnormal for quilts to sit months/years before getting around to bind them.)

 

The first quilt is a fun baby quilt, made using Lizzy House's Outfoxed fabric collection, and my tutorial (although since the quilt was for a baby boy I simply omitted the circles and ric rac!).

 

I chose the main fox print for the back of the quilt, as this quilt was made for a very special little boy.  My friends just adopted a baby boy whose middle name is Fox, which is his mom's grandma's maiden name (following me?).  With that, I took one glimpse of the Outfoxed fabric and knew that I had to make him something special.  :)

Close up of the quilting, done by me!  :)

The second quilt is a fun lap quilt, made with Riley Blake's Be Merry Christmas fabric line (circa 2009), and The Quilted Fish's Sassy Squares No. 2 quilt pattern.

The backing is flannel, and the quilt was quilted with white snowflakes!

I have two more quilts in the works, and hope to be able to share completed versions with you in the near future!  I'm using this tutorial for one of the quilts, using Robert Kaufman's Pick a Bunch fabric collection, and this fun tool for the other quilt, using Riley Blake's So Sophie fabric collection.

Are you working on any quilts?  If so, I would love to hear about them!  :)

Handmade Christmas Gifts

I've always dreamed of a 100% handmade Christmas.  What about you?  Hopefully one of these days I'll get there, but until then I have two Christmas gifts to share with you!  First up is the fun doughnut quilt I made for my Grandma B.!  (It makes me hungry just looking at it!).  :)

 

I used Threaded Pear Studio's Modern Day Diamonds quilt pattern.  I absolutely love the simple design and size of the finished quilt.  I'll admit that matching the diamonds was a bit tedious, but towards the end I came up with a couple fail proof shortcuts, which eliminated a lot of seam ripping!

The back has a fun doughnut stripe along the bottom.

A close-up of the long-arm machine quilting, which I did myself- woo hoo!  :)

The next handmade gift I have to share is this quirky mustache pillow, which I made for my friend Thomas.  Mustache home decor is hot right now, so I figured who wouldn't want a pillow with an appliqued leather mustache on it?

I used Free Spirit's Designer Houndstooth fabric, in Hot House Blue, for the pillow.  The leather was a scrap I had laying around.

I also used a scrap piece of coordinating brown Moda fabric for the zipper cover!

 

This pillow marks the first time I ever worked with leather, with that being said I think the applique looks awesome!

Did you sew (or receive) any handmade Christmas gifts?