First finish of the Year

This is my first finish of the year. It was started way back in 2012, as a leader/ender project. The top was finished about a year ago, and then it sat and waited to be quilted.  I finished the quilting a couple of weeks ago, and then it patiently sat, yet again, and waited for its binding. I finished the binding on Monday. I have decided to name this one Four Square. I had a lot of fun with the quilting. I saw a pantograph that was done with a version of these shapes, and thought that I could probably do something similar to it, but free hand, using the squares as a guide for size and direction. I had to work it out on graph paper first, and kept the drawing as a guide for which direction to go.

I did the binding, as usual, with a diagonal striped fabric, and a faux piped technique. I love the look and the little bit of colour that piping gives. The fact that the piping also acts as a guide for machine sewing in the ditch to finish the binding is a wonderful bonus. I know lots of people who really enjoy the process of hand sewing their bindings, but that has always been the part of making a quilt that I've liked the least. So this is my go-to binding technique. There's a tutorial here if you are interested in trying it.

I pieced the backing out of some light green fabrics that have lived in my stash for quite some time. I'm liking the look of pieced backings more and more as time goes by. It also does wonderful things for the stash report. Rather than buying new yardage for a backing, I can use what I've got. The challenge is to come up with a combination that looks like it all works together.
The final size of this quilt is 72x88. It used up a ton of my scrap 2 1/2 inch squares. However the box of those is no where even close to empty, so it's time to start thinking of another project for them. I have one in mind, but it will involve some cutting of yardage for the constant fabric background, so it's going to have to continue to knock around in my head for a while yet. I'm linking this up to a couple of finish parties: Sarah's at Can I get a Whoop whoop and finish it Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Design Wall Monday, Oct. 6, 2014

I have the next UFO that I want to work on up on the wall today. It's an old leader/ender project that was started back in January of 2012.

It's going to be a large Irish Chain when it grows up. I'm hoping to keep up the finishes I've been doing with my UFO's this year, and get this one done this month. All the chain blocks are done, so it shouldn't take too long to get the rest of it put together. However, there are hanging sleeves to go onto two more quilts before I can sit down and work on this.
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday, then it will be time for some supper and some hand stitching on a couple of hanging sleeves.

Finish it Friday

My UFO goal for this month was to get this leaders/enders project that has been on the waiting list to be finished for quite some time. When I drew up my UFO list at the beginning of the year, I decided that this one had aged enough, and was ready to be finished. It went from a bag of 4 patches and 16 patches to a finished flimsy. Now, it will move to the waiting to be quilted pile.  I'm linking up to Finish it Friday and also to the Lovely Year of Finishes. The rest of today is going to be devoted to getting more quilting done on my Thanksgiving Leaves project. I'm hoping to have it done by the middle of next week.

Design Wall Monday, Feb. 3, 2014

I put up this month's UFO on the wall today, just to see what I've got, and what needs to be done. I don't have enough of any one colour to do the 2 1/2 inch borders around the 4 patches, unless I do white, and I'd rather keep my whites for other projects. I'm thinking of a couple of light greys, at the moment, but that could change, once I actually see it up there. I like the way it looks now, with the light areas of the wall showing through, so I'll try and keep that as much as possible, without buying more fabric. The other thing I just though that I could do would be to check out the very large tub of leftover muslins that I have buried under the stairs. Hmmmmm, that might be the way to go. Finish a quilt, and empty a tub of fabric, or at least get a start on emptying it.
I think I'll post this, and link up to Judy's Design Wall Monday, and then go check out exactly what is in that tub of fabric.

Part of getting my sewing stuff organized is going to be the beginning of a couple of new leader and ender projects, since I finished my last one last year in December. I've decided on this one here, to the right. for the mounds of 2 1/2 inch squares I have kicking around. I already have a few of these blocks made. And then for the  never ending amount of 2 inch squares, and strips, I really like the looks of this version of the Irish Chain pattern. Both of these quilts were done in the EQ7 software I bought a couple of months ago, but haven't yet had a lot of time to play with. The other one I rather like a this version of the Irish Chain quilt for the never ending pile of 2 inch squares and strips I have also hanging around. I like the alternating of the colours and the white squares. Between these 2, that should get a start on taming the scraps.