One Thing: One Week Challenge 3

I challenged myself last week to finish a quilt top. I had joined in my first quilt along over at Fat Quarterly. It was a pretty easy pattern, using one jelly roll to make cute patchwork blocks. I'm a little behind because "life" happened and I had a couple of busy weeks. Anyways, I spent all weekend frantically sewing my blocks together, then finishing the quilt top. But, I did it! :) Yay!

Here's my completed quilt top.

I decided to use my jelly roll of Botany by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda. I had been eyeing this fabric for a while. I love the sunshine-y colors! Then, when Fat Quarter Shop had a sale code for 50% off, I knew I had to get some! :) I had no plan for a quilt in this fabric yet, so joining the quilt-along was a great way to use up this jelly roll and not have to wonder, "How will I design this quilt...?". Now I just have to decide if I want to keep it, sell it, or give it to a family or friend. Hmm... decisions, decisions...

Go check out the other lovely entries for the Challenge week over at Amy's Creative Side. And if you have time check out Fat Quarterly too. I just noticed my quilt top is pictured in their "mosaic" of quilt-along quilt tops. :) Happy Monday, everyone!

**Also adding this post to join in Fabric Tuesday over at QuiltStory. Check them out for a glimpse of some lovely quilts. :)

One Thing: One Week Challenge 3

Pampa's Quilt

Well, I guess its been a while since I've posted. Yikes! I've been busy though. Just finished my 15th quilt of the year. I made this bed quilt for my Grandpa, who I lovingly call "Pampa". I guess when my sister and I were little, we couldn't pronounce "Grandpa", and Pampa came a little easier. The name just stuck, and we've called him Pampa ever since. He is 92 and lives with my mom and step-dad, who take excellent care of him! :) My Grandpa ended up the very happy owner of my bumblebee quilt, which is supposed to be his lap quilt for the sofa. But, he says he doesn't want anyone to steal it, so every night, he takes it to his bed too! Well, my mom asked if I would make him one to fit his bed perfectly, especially since sometimes the tucking and untucking can be hard for him. So I started on this quilt design a couple of weeks ago.

Are there any other quilters out there that know what the name of this block is? I think it looks like either a cross or a windmill. Anyways, it is a very easy block to put together. I decided on solid colors and I used a jelly roll (2.5 inch by 42 inch strips) of Kona Cotton solids in blues, browns, yellows, and greens, along with a jelly roll of Bella Solids in Natural. I ended up using most of the leftovers from cutting up my squares. I even used some of the 2.5 inch squares in my pieced border. It was nice to have hardly any scraps leftover!

I also had leftover squares that didn't add up to one whole block, so every once in a while throughout the quilt, there is a "crazy" block of mixed shades. I think it adds a little personality. :) I decided on my usual meandering/stipple quilt design all over, again... I know, boring, right? But I love how it looks!

I found a grey-ish-brown (taupe?) solid fabric at a local quilt shop, and 2 yards was the perfect amount, with my extra strip of blocks in between. The quilt measures approximately 36 inches by 76 inches.

My most favorite part of this quilt was the binding I found! When I saw this stripey fabric I thought it would be perfect for this quilt. It has almost all the colors of the quilt in it, and I thought it looked so cool with the rest of the fabrics!

And here's the beginning of my idea on paper:

It looks a little different from the final product, but overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out, and very happy to be able to make a quilt for my Pampa!

Pampa's Quilt

Where Have I Been...?

Cutting...

...piecing...

...more piecing...

...making pillowcases...

...oh yeah, and being a soccer mama! :)

Where Have I Been...?

Botanica Quilt Top

At my husband's suggestion, I will now try to post pictures of my quilt sketches along with the rest of the process of making my quilts. I had bought the lovely Botanica fabric collection by Lourdes Sanchez a while back, not sure what I was going to do with it, but knowing I wanted to make it into a quilt (obviously...). ;) After looking at it all stacked up pretty on my shelf, day after day, I decided that it was the perfect color combination for my sister... at least I hope so. I know she really loves purple and green, and she is majoring in Botany, so I figured it's darn near perfect! Here's my silly sketch. I was originally thinking I would get some more green fabric to add to the rest of the collection, but I decided against it. I might still add a border similar to the one in the drawing, but I'm done with the major portion of the quilt top.

And here it is... I love patchwork blocks... especially BIG blocks! Each block is a pieced fat quarter size (approximately 18" by 21"). I thought the big pieces would be great for such big flowery prints. I rearranged the blocks a little different from the sketch.

I'm still deciding on the border, but I'm thinking grey. And I think I'll go with either green or purple for the binding (or maybe something with both). I'm also leaning towards grey for the back, with a row of pieced blocks in between the solids. The finished quilt should be a lap quilt approximately 54" by 63". Again... stay tuned for more pics. :)

I am hoping to finish a couple more quilt tops before putting them all together and finishing the quilts, so at least I'll have the main portion done. I'll be working on some pillowcases the rest of this week for Craft Hope Project 9. :)

Botanica Quilt Top