Austen Family Album Quilted

I got my Austen Family Album BOW quilt, aka The. Giant Nine-Patch, back from the longarmer.  I am very happy with it.  The quilting helps emphasize the large "blocks". Now to bind the darn thing!

Black and White and Bright All Over Jane

I am making steady progress on the black and white version of the Dear Jane quilt I am making.  I have 5 more 66" seams and an accompanying 5 x 66" of hand sewing the sashing down and then the center portion will be done!  Here's the back of the rows - I tried to use a square of the same b&w print used on the front of the block on the backs. I ran out of some, so it's not perfect. I used each B&W fabric at most three times and there is only one instance where the same fabric is right next to another. Not bad, I think!

The quilt as you go technique is perfect for this quilt and makes the quilt reversible, which is why I'm showing the back here. 

I still have the side borders to make...I'm only piecing the corner kites and one triangle to put in the middle of each side.  I have all but the pieced triangle done on one side:

Once I make the pieced triangles for the center of each row and get them all done, I will have to figure out how I am going to quilt them. I am leaning toward simple one line of echo quilting in both the black and b&w triangles or just the b&w triangles using the variegated thread I used for the center blocks.

And I have the corner kites done:

I need to decide what to put on the kite with the yellow flower. This is the piece Jane Stickle used as a label. I will machine embroider the start and end years (2013-2015) and maybe my first name and last initial, along with the city where I live.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Because I Need Another Project

I decided to take an embroidery class at Kelly Ann's Quilting.  This is the first project. It will become a pillow.

There is a method to my madness. ..I will be making a crazy quilt inspired border soon and want to learn the basics of embroidery to add embellishments to that border.

And here's the finished pillow:

 The pattern calls for three buttons in the plaid area. I did not have any buttons that worked so I made a flower and used it instead. Not bad for one of the first pillows I've ever made.

Row by Row 2015 - Finish and a Win

I decided to see if I could get a quilt completed for the Row by Row experience this year. I had picked up a cute row pattern with cabanas on a beach from the Quilt Patch and made it over the next few days after work.  I then had time to get to a bunch of other local stores and over the past two weeks have worked diligently on them in the evenings after work.

I machine pieced the rows and used fusible applique. Some "firsts" for me during this process:

• Applique by machine using hte buttonhole stitch - not as difficult as I thought - need to work on turning those corners
• Fusible applique - tried several different types and found one I like - now I need to figure out which type that one is!
• Used the Quilt as You Go technique between the rows to practice longer seams before I put the rows together on my Dear Jane quilts
• Attached binding by machine rather than hand-stitching the back - if I am going to do this, I need to make my binding strips smaller since I like a nice tight binding.
• Machine quilting the entire thing - yes, you really should tape the backing down before pinning - I'll say no more

All in all, I had a lot of fun. I was the first to bring a completed top to Kelly Ann's Quilting in Warrenton, VA so I got to pick out 25 fat quarters. In addition, since I used the row from KAQ in the quilt, I received a gift certificate...which I promptly spent!!

Here is the result of my labor, which will be hung at Kelly Ann's for the duration of the Row by Row - through September, I think.

In order to keep myself from obsessing over what order to put the rows in, I chose to put them in alphabetical order by shop name, as listed on the label. (Yes, hand-written - I was in a hurry and it was 2am!)