Watercolor Dragon Quilt

I learned the burden of making backing mistakes this week. A separate, but no less grievous error than my Gingerbread Lane Swoon quilt left me with the same issue of a wrinkle in the backing of my quilt. I decided to build character and take out all of the stitches in the top three rows to fix my mistake. I knew that facing the consequences of my actions (not making sure the backing is being rolled evenly when the fabric is twice as large as the quilt) would prevent me from making this mistake again. It will. I spent more time taking out stitches than I did cutting out the fabric, sewing, stitching detail, and long arming (all version) of this quilt. LESSON LEARNED. The clamshell pantograph is absolutely unforgiving. 

Here is the final, completed version. It doesn't show up here but there is handstitching (sashiko) on all of the white borders, and around the binding, with ombre purple thread. 

 

Gingerbread Lane Swoon Quilt

While I had some free time this summer I wanted to go ahead and make a new Christmas quilt for myself. I used the Swoon pattern, which I made last Christmas, but this time chose only a few fabrics: gingerbread dance (the cranberry), sugar holly and candy (the cream), and then I added a pearl solid inner border, cranberry border, and then sugar blizzard for a large outer border. I used the cranberry for binding as well. I tried to keep time on this project and when all said and done, this took about 31 hours. I used a simple stipple on the longarm for the quilting, and made a HUGE mistake by not attaching the backing fabric to my longarm until about half-way through when I realized my error, and so the back has a lot of spots where the fabric (I used a 116" backing fabric called toasted marshmallow) folded over. I was so disappointed, but not enough to take it all apart. It's in the dryer now so we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully the crinkle will forgive a lot of mistakes. The quilt ended up being 103" square. 

Dragon Dreams Quilt

 I used a quilt kit from Riley Blake's Faraway Kingdom to make the basic dragon, and purchased additional coordinating fabric to increase the size by adding an inner and outer border. The quilt ended up being 50"x60", which is perfect to take to school and let the kids sit on while reading. I used a longarm pattern called Scrolling Filigree. It's a lot cuter in person. This one didn't photograph super well. I am working on another version now using darker fabrics. 

Mini Fairytales Quilt

 My mom's quilt shop sells half-packs, which are 5 1/2 yard fabrics that can be used to make a simple quilt. They have 12 patterns from Sassy Sunflower Quilts to choose from that come free with purchase. On my last visit I got several packs, including one using Small Things- Fairytales by Lewis & Irene and the pattern called "Spin Me Round". They are so cute! I wanted to make a small quilt for my classroom that kids can sit on during our independent reading stamina building time. The quilt size is 50"x57" which is perfect. I was home alone when I finished it so don't have my professional holder (haha) so here it what it looks like from the back of my couch. Easy to do in an afternoon. I used a basic stipple to quilt on my longarm, which might become my new favorite. 

You can see some of the characters. I added the solid pearl fabric so I could use the dark blue from the kit for the binding. The project takes about a half-yard of each. I used the pearl solid on the back as well. 

Patchouli Parlor Quilt

A quilt kit caught my eye while shopping at my mom's quilt store last year, and I finally had some time to put it together. It's called Patchouli and is 60"x 67". It included a layer cake and 2 1/2 yards of fabric, plus binding. I purchased the backing separately. The fabric line is called Parlor by Crystal Manning.  It was a quick and easy put together and would be easy to do with other fabrics as well. The only mistake I made was sewing the backing fabrics together wrong so the bottom flowers are facing the opposite directions. Live and learn! 

Bloomcore Quilt Gift

One of my co-workers is leaving our job, so my other teammate and I decided her going away gift would be a super girly quilt. I used the Bloomcore fabric line from AGF and a kit from myfabricaddiction.com, although after the second row I realized I made a HUGE mistake and instead of taking apart 50% of the quilt and redoing it, I took apart only 15% and changed the pattern to fit my mistake. You can see from the picture at the bottom that every other X block was supposed to be turned. Oops. I started this quilt in November and put it aside, so this was my lesson learned that it is SO MUCH HARDER to try to figure out where you left off and pick it up than just to power through and finish projects when you start them. 

I love the crinkly-ness of it. I debated between a solid background that matched the binding and this floral print, and my teammate and I decided since our co-worker is in a house full of boys she deserved something feminine and girly and all hers. 

And here is what it should've looked like. At first glance it looks like an easy project but even though it's only made of two shapes (triangles and rectangles) it is one of the most mathematically difficult patterns I've ever tried. It's so cute though! 

 

Wooly Stars Quilt

I made this fun quilt for no particular reason. The pattern caught my eye at myfabricaddiction.com and I couldn't resist! The directions were pretty simple. Complete steps 1-29 and then repeat 8 times. Haha. I do best when batch-processing so it didn't take nearly as long as it could have. The hardest part was determining the pantograph to quilt it with on my longarm. I ended up going for a swirl repeat pattern. Next time I would probably choose something different (maybe smaller cloud puffs?) but this was cute and I like how it turned out. 

Also for the first time I used a bedsheet instead of store-bought fabric as the backing. I wasn't sure I would like it but it turned out great and I had plenty of the queen-size sheet fabric so I felt comfortable with it. 

 

American Flag Quilt #2

I have been obsessed with this quilt pattern since seeing it on TikTok last summer and with America's 250th birthday coming up in July so many companies have patriotic fabric to choose from. For this quilt I went with American Gatherings III, and made the smaller version using the Stars and Stripes pattern from ThimbleBlossom. The backing fabric, I can't recall the company, but is 108" width which I love and found at my mom's local quilt store. I ended up quilting with a stars pantograph which looks so good! I was really proud of how this turned out. Now, it just needs a home! 

Campfire Quilt

 I made my husband this quilt using a kit from myfabricaddiction.com. I used a flannel backing which really threw off my longarm, so that's definitely something I need to keep practicing. The pantograph is campfires, which adds to the warmness of this plaid design.

You can already see some loose threads I had to go back and fix. Not my best work but I learn something from every quilt I make. Next time will be better! 

Bugs and Florals Quilt

 I made this quilt top ages ago and finally had time to get some cute backing fabric to finish it. The pantograph I used to quilt it has snails and leaves and is the cutest little pattern! I'll include some close-up pictures to see it better. 

Mixmaster Manchester Precut Sew-Ready Quilt Kit

I had a goal to finish all of my in-progress quilts before New Year's, and I was SO CLOSE to meeting that expectation I set for myself. This quilt kit I purchased from myfabricaddiction.com a few months ago, and loved it because it came with a few different patterns I could make with the same set of blocks. I've made a similar version before, so I thought I would try this design, which started at the bottom right corner and worked both vertically and horizontally. I'll be honest, it took a lot more brainpower than I thought it should making sure the columns and rows were correct each time (it was a growing pattern, so I was constantly counting!) and I didn't really like having to build one small row/column at a time. There was no way to put it together in sections. Even though I was completely random with my block choices (I don't know the effort it would take to try to plan it out carefully) I ended up with the same fabric repeating in a certain area (which is WILD to me because I literally just grabbed and sewed, and since it's going together one at a time I sewed all 19/20 columns/rows and then attached them). I can't say I'll do this one again, but I learned a lot and am glad I did it. 

Before quilting- 

Here it is at the end of October as I put each row/column together one by one. I set it aside once finished because I couldn't find the perfect backing fabric. The last time I went to my local fabric store I found a great green and white floral wideback that was great. 

Bookshelf Quilt

 This project was a labor of love! I started making my little sister a quilt featuring her favorite books back in November as a Christmas gift. After getting a list of books from her, I screenshotted and photoshopped each book to look like it was sitting on a bookshelf. Then, I used my Brother Printmoda Fabric Printer to print the pieces out. I found a couple images of frames online and photoshopped her pictures into them as well. 

Then, I started and stopped about 15 times, removing hundreds of stitches because it just wasn't going the way I wanted. I decided to get her something else and would finish the quilt when I had time and the magic I needed to get it done.

Fast forward to December 23. I got a notification from FedEx that her present was delayed in the mail and wouldn't arrive before we left for my mom's house. I couldn't show up with no gift for my favorite little sister! So I buckled down, after finishing my mom's Christmas quilt at 11:30 pm, and pulled out the dozens of pieces I prepped and got down to business. I have no idea what time I finished the quilt top, but knew I needed a very simple digital pantograph because 1. It's the middle of the night and it needs to get done and 2. the pieces are so detailed the Internet suggested horizontal or wavy lines that are separated enough to blend in and not ruin the look of the books. My main goal was that there were two quarter-size faces of her I didn't want to stitch over (spoiler alert: it did). I learned a ton while making this and will definitely know how to improve should I make another one in the future. 

Anyway, I also didn't get a picture before gifting, but here it is. I managed to finish at 4:40 am, just in time for my husband to suggest we go ahead and make the drive to my mom's because he was awake for the day and I could sleep in the truck. I still haven't reclaimed my sleep schedule, but she absolutely loved it!

And here is a picture of my 13 year old puppy, Elsie, hating dressing up but loving all the family snuggles! 

Swoon Christmas Quilt

 I made my mom a Christmas quilt for her bed and didn't get a photo before I gifted it, but I saved the pattern so I could make another. This was a pre-cut quilt kit from My Fabric Addiction which I have loved getting pieces from because it takes away the worst part- cutting fabric. A lot of times they have sales, and I got this one half-price! I purchased the backing they had (108"- my favorite!) so this quilt was super easy to put together. I love the old fashioned fabric vibes (Riley Blake) and used a loose berries-on-a-vine pattern from prostitcher. 

My New Favorite Bright Tula Pink Quilt!

 I used another pack of half-yard fabric (plus one fat quarter bc I messed up the border piece and happened to have an extra of that fabric) and the absolute cutest fabric from Tula Pink to make this quilt. Once again, I used a pattern from Sassy Sunflower Quilts.

I can't get over the colors. These pictures do it absolutely no justice at all. It's so cute! 

The bunnies!!! 

And here's what it looked like before quilting:

Small Ocean Quilt

My goal over Christmas break was to learn some shortcuts on my longarm to make quilting more fun and give me a better quality end product. This one uses ocean fabrics from a half-yard pack I picked up at my mom's local quilt store, and the absolute perfect backing I found at my local store. I purchased a huge prostitcher design for this one. It's so cute and I learned a lot!

Here's a bit of a close up. It's SO cute! 

Animal Animal half-yard quilt

 Shopping with my mom over Thanksgiving, we went into her local quilt store where they had half-yard packs of fabric that came with a quilt pattern. I knew I had some kid gifts to make for Christmas, so I picked up four of them to try it out. I should've went ahead and purchased backing fabric at the time, but that is a weakness of mine, thinking I'll go back and choose later. 

Anyway, here is a cute pattern (all of them are from Sassy Sunflower Quilts) using Animal Animal fabric from Ruby Star Society. 

Here it is before quilting. I chose a half-circle pattern. 

Waterlily Lap Quilt

This is a quilt top I made over the summer and finally finished this weekend. I quilted it over Thanksgiving break but just couldn't make myself do the binding until now. It's so vintage! 

And the back! 

The fabrics for the patchwork came in strips I put together and sewed into blocks. 

Here she is, waiting for months to be completed. 

Leaf Square Quilt

I used some inspiration from browsing Pinterest to create my own layout for this quilt. I used a Riley Blake 10" square pack (it took a few pieces from a second pack) and some leftover white fabric from the Nantucket bolt I used to make the ghost quilts. 

The back has fall leaves. 

I was afraid this quilting would look too Canadian, haha! It's hundreds of maple leafs. 

Before longarming 

Before I decided to add the borders to increase the size, it was fairly simple and made in one evening.