Rainbow Sawtooth Star and Greek Plus

I just finished reading the article from the MQG about derivative quilts and I'm perplexed and discouraged and I'm sure many others of you are too.  I just think this is too far.  --- but that's a whole other blog entry.

I really wanted to share with you this Lizzy House Rainbow quilt I finished early this year!

Started:  February 2016

Finished:  March 2016

Fabrics:  80 Lizzy House charms from our guild swap, plus a couple other prints to round out the rainbow, cotton couture soft white.
Batting: Pellon, Nature's Touch, 100% cotton with scrim, white

Backing: Lizzy House tonal Pearl bracelet
Binding: scrappy Lizzy house remnants

Thread: aurifil 50, 2021

FMQ meander pattern

I started this quilt making HST out of my 5" charms from a guild swap.  I wasn't really paying any attention to colors or values just started piecing them together so I could play with the HST shape.  I decided on sawtooth stars in color groupings.  While I was piecing these, I decided I didn't like the empty space between the stars so I added 4.5" sawtooth stars.

Then, I wanted it to be a little bigger, and the plus shape created by sawtooth star caught my eye... I wanted to repeat that shape.  So then I took the rest of my charms and made 4.5" pluses!

I pieces those as a border in rainbow order and also thinking about the values of the prints.  

There's a 2.5" strip between the stars and pluses and then, the pluses and binding.  This quilt is for sale in my etsy shop!

One more blogged another bazillion to go.  JK 

My First Quilt Show Entry

So, I finished up my first Quilt Show entry last night!  I call it my Nightsky Plus Quilt.  It measures at 61x71, shrank two inches each way after washing.  Yesterday, I attached the label and the hanging sleeve with the help of my new, dear quilting friend Emily.  I didn't expect to be putting this quilt in the show but the show kinda snuck up on us.  This was the quilt I was working on at the time I heard about the MODERN category and I knew I could get finished in time.  (These pictures are pre-wash.)

I free motion quilted straight diagonal lines in a black aurifil thread all over and around the pluses.  I love the negative spaces and shapes around the pluses on the back!

The white cloud corner has a rounded corner and curvy edges to break up the structured pluses.  I improv pieced the pluses and used a variety of white, ivory, gray and Parson Gray fabrics. 

I'm so excited to see our MODERN category at the Smoky Mountain Quilters Quilt Show in Maryville, TN this weekend!  If you are local please come out and check it out. 

And Eli gives it his stamp of appoval!! (I made a matching drawstring bag for it!)

Cutting, cutting, cutting

This past Thursday, I broke my sewing machine while FMQ and had to take it to the shop.

Oh, how I miss it! I don't really have a backup... I mean, I have one but it gives me a heck of a time and I'd rather not pull all of my hair out in frustration! Ha. I've been contemplating getting something more powerful for FMQ (free motion quilting). So I've been cutting out lots if things:
Large triangles for a baby quilt, but I've fallen pretty hard for these triangles. I think it is going to be a lap quilt for ME!

Queen Bee Bag from Moda Bake Shop. Said it was 120 minutes... I'd say x3. I mean I didn't even do the patchwork part, just cut whole pieces of fabric. Once its finished it's going to hold a lot of large ackward quilting necessities.

And my spinning stars have finally been cut out using Simpatico and Hope Chest! On flickr there is a spinning stars group, Ive been very slow to start. I'm really looking forward to putting it together.