Project Quilting Week 2: Carolina Lily

This is my entry for week two of Project Quilting.

It measures 30 x 30 inches.

The theme this week was Carolina Lily.

Inspiration didn't come as quick as last week, I was stumped as to what to do.  I couldn't decide between an artsy abstract version or a traditional version.

After looking around on Pinterest I found this cute paper pieced block and put it on file for a back up mini quilt option if it came down to the wire. The only problem was I couldn't find the where this block came from.  The Pinterest link took me to blank page with just the image.  I copied and saved the image and dragged it into the google image search hoping it would take me to the original poster, but all I got were bad Pinterest links. So I put it on the back burner.

Come Friday I was still undecided.  That little block was going to be my best option, but I'd have to redraw it on my own to make it work.  Finally inspiration struck.

This image popped up in my Pinterest feed. It comes from Judy Martin's Book Shining Stars and I decided to recreate something similar using the Lily Block above.  I knew the Lonestar part would sew up lickety split using strips and chain piecing. It would be the 8 lily blocks that would take up most of my time.

The First thing I did was redraw the lily block so I could paper piece it. It didn't take as long as I thought it would in EQ7.  All I had to do was load the image and trace it. Piece of cake. Then I played around with some layouts.  I liked the one on the right with big lilies in the corners, but I knew I was already short on time so I went with the one in the middle.

By Friday evening I had my layout, my paper piecing pattern printed, cut, and fabric pulled, and was starting on my 8 lily blocks.

Luckily I had my most of my Saturday free to work on this quilt.  I finished up the lily blocks and got to work on the Lonestar pieces.  I went with rainbow colors again.  I can't help it, they are so pretty!
Since this quilt is only 30 x 30 inches, these Lonestar diamonds started out with 1.5 inch strips.

Working on the Lonestar sections.  I don't actually plan on making a Lonestar each week of project quilting, but it may end up being a fun side theme trying to see how I can incorporate a Lonestar pattern into each theme. We shall see what week three brings.

Saturday night I had all my pieces sewn and early Sunday morning I got up and put everything together.  I didn't have time for any fancy quilting on this one.  I barely had time to stitch in the ditch around some of the major areas. I finished the last binding stitch at 8:50am and went outside to take its picture.  It was pouring rain, so the front porch swing was my only option.  I put a very quick blog post up so I could link my entry and by then it was 9am and time to get ready for church.

It was a weekend full of sewing, but was so worth it!

Check out all the other entries HERE and vote for your 10 favorite!



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Winter Mini Quilt

This next swap was mailed out in November last year in plenty of time for winter.  My partner had several snowflakes in her mosaic so I broke out the snowflake pattern I used at the beginning of the year during project quilting.

This time though I opted for one snowflake.

I got real good at chain paper piecing last January so this top went together in no time. 

The fun part was deciding on the layout.  Even though it is suppose to be scrappy, I don't like to have too many of the same fabrics touching. 

For the quilting, I stitched in the ditch around the snowflake and meandered the rest.

Since I liked the look of the hexagon, I decided to omit the final triangles in the corner.  This is the perfect size for a table topper for my circle end table. I will have to make another one for myself.  As for this one, it is now living in Australia.

The mini I received is wintry and Christmasy.
And has my favorite touch of red!

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Fall Mini Quilt Swap

Another Swap that went out last fall was the Fall Mini Quilt Swap.

For this swap I knew who my partner was and she had me as well.

Most of these swaps I haven't sent to the same person who has sent to me, so this was a change.

My partner posted a mosaic with leaves and traditional fall colors so I pulled my best fall colored fabrics.

I had the perfect light brown polk-a-dot background in my stash.  Once the leaf was finished I decided to add some flying geese on two sides.

 All the fabric in this mini quilt came from my scrap bins.  Maybe if I make a few hundred more of these I might see a slight dent in my scraps... just maybe...

This mini is now happily residing in California.

I told my partner that I love pumpkins and she sent me this lovely mini!

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