Peak a Who? Blog Hop

Welcome to my day of the Peak a Who? blog hop.  Hosted by Marian of Seams to Be Sew.  I have a few items to show today that I have worked on over the past few months.

First up, I wanted to tackle an old Halloween UFO.  I created one just like it several years ago in 2010 as part of the "La Petite - A Year of Small Projects" challenge. This pattern is called Paganini from Ms. Rosie's Quilt company and is designed for Charm Packs. When I first cut out the project I used several 5 inch strips from my yardage instead of a charm pack.  This method left me with way too much left over fabric for one quilt.  So I decided I would cut enough for two quilts, which I did.  I made the first quilt right away.  The  second one... well....

I played with it again in 2015 hoping to finish it as part of the 2015 Finish-A-Long.  I made some good progress on it and got the top done and even got the backing and batting picked out but that was it.   

  The next several months it got moved around and put on hold while other projects moved to the top of the to do list. It has been sitting and waiting its turn for quilting, until now.

I finally finished it as part of the third quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long and today am excited to show it off  to you all as part of the Peek A Who? blog hop. 

And check out who is peeking around on the back.

Another one of my Spooky creations was a Halloween tote bag.

 Look Who is peeking out on the front!  He was made for a Spooky Tote Swap I joined.  I actually made two identical bats. One for each side of the bag.

The paper pieced bat pattern is called midnight Bite and is from Lillyella.com. The tote pattern also comes from Lillyella.com and is a free tutorial here. The fun part of this swap was knowing who my spooky partner was.  Most the swaps I have joined are blind swaps and you don't know who your partner is till the package lands on your doorstep.   I like this way better because it allows me to get to know a new quilty friend.

This is the fantastic tote I got I got from my partner.  It is amazing what a few fabric changes can do to a pattern. And check out the fantastic embroidered witch on the back.  She even glows in the dark!

My final project is till a flimsy, mainly because of this.

My ruler foot broke on my quilting machine, I wasn't even using my quilt rulers at the time or going over any seams, just doing and all over filler in a solid piece of fabric.  Next thing I know the machine jumps and I'm out one presser foot.  So quilting on this next project will be delayed.  But not for too long, a new presser foot is already in the mail heading my way.

Not too long ago I fell in love with One Block Wonder quilts.  I have already made two and have two more cut out and I have already purchased fabric for 3 more.  What can I say, I'm hooked.

This summer I discovered One Block Wonders using panels and I had to have one of my own.

This hop was the perfect reason to buy a fabulous Halloween panel.
Seven panels to be exact.
One for the center and one to cut up.

After several different layouts options I ended up with this one. I love how the hexagons carry the distorted image away to the edges.  I can see myself making many more of these!  I think I may try it without the inner border on my next one and see how that comes out.

Make sure to visit all the other Sites today and visit any of the others you may have missed throughout the week, they have some great projects!  Scroll even further for giveaways from Fat Quarter Shop and Timeless Treasures.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Just Let Me Quilt | Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Words & Stitches
Melva Loves Scraps | Seams To Be Sew 

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Songbird Designs | Quilt Doodle Doodles
Made By Marney | SewGoldenAChance
Ms. P Designs USA | Seams To Be Sew 

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

MooseStashQuilting | Hand Stitched Treasure
DesertSky Quilting | Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Seams To Be Sew 

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Just Because Quilts | Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Patchwork Breeze | Life in the Scrapatch
Seams To Be Sew

Friday, October 26, 2018

Kathys Kwilts and More | Quilted Delights (Me)
Seams To Be Sew | Bumbleberry Style

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What Shade Are You, Mr. Peacock

Say Hello to Mr. Peacock. He was made for the What Shade Are You Blog Hop hosted by RJR fabrics. You can see the original post at quiltwithlove.com.

For those of you who don't know, I quilt in a small town - Lake City, SC - and we just got our lake last month! It is a small lake, but then again Lake City is a small town, but what it lacks in size and population it makes up in charm. Especially every April when it is host to one of the biggest art competitions in the southeast, Artfields, which awards a total $120,000 to artists across 12 states. The art submitted ranges from prints and paintings to 3D artwork and sculptures. There have even been a few quilts entered over the years. I have yet to enter a quilt myself, but after working on the What Shade Are You Blog Hop, I have been inspired to give it a try next year.

I’ll admit I was a little nervous about what I was going to make. I wanted to make sure I could make something beautiful enough to showcase the lovely solids from RJR fabrics and I wanted it to be original.

I decided to start by answering the question, “What shade are you?” I love red, it is my favorite color and if you ask anyone around my house they would tell you red is definitely my shade, so my first thought was to make a quilt with different shades of reds, but as long as my mind stayed fixed on a red themed quilt no inspiration would come.

As I was mulling things over trying to come up with an idea the question, “Can you make a peacock quilt?”  kept popping into my head. A co-worker had asked me that question a couple years ago when she noticed all the quilts I’d been making for the weekly challenges of Project Quilting. Why that question from so long ago kept popping into my thoughts I didn’t know, but it would not leave my brain. So I decided to go ahead and draw something up.

I used the notepad on my cell phone and made my first rough sketches.

I drew a couple renditions and then added color. I started with blues and greens and a few purples but no red.  I really didn’t want to let go of having red in my project, but peacocks didn't have red in their feathers. I was about to totally give up on the idea of having my favorite color in the quilt when a phrase from the movie Toy Story 2 popped into my head, “You’ll like Amy, she’s an artist!”  Right then and there I decided to put red in my peacock quilt. I put it right at the tip of the feathers. After all, I told myself, I am an artist and artists can make their peacock feathers be any color they want.

From there I added several other colors.  I ended up using the following:

Pickup Truck 415  (The Red)

Orange Crush 412

Persimmon 413

Cantaloupe 209

Citron 337

Sour Apple 346

Turks & Caicos 292

Bora Bora 328

Proud as a peacock 289  (Couldn’t pass this one up)

Lake 427

Violet 423

Hydrangea 214

Schooner 392

Robin's Egg 391

Lucky Green 406

Spring 405

Royal Blue 126  

Optical White White 33

Black 34

As I was drawing the feathers loaded with triangles I decided to construct the quilt using foundation paper piecing.  That way I could be sure to get all my points nice and sharp.

To make the pattern, I taped several large pieces of paper together to get an idea of the finished size.  Then I made master copies of the feathered sections, duplicated them 9 times, and got busy sewing.

Once I knew the final paper piecing layout of all the feathers I drew the bird’s body.   Following the lines of the inside part of the feathers helped make the process easier.

 The cotton supreme fabrics are so vibrant and smooth to the touch. They were lovely to work with and created such a fun quilt.  It even looked lovely from the back side.

I'm still loving my new quilting machine. It makes quilting so much more fun. Especially my large quilts. No more laying on the floor basting and no more struggling with large quilts under a small sewing machine.

Make sure you follow Quiltwithlove.com they will have a new quilt a new quilt every Friday showcasing what you can do with solid color fabrics.

I am so grateful I was able to be part of this hop. It has inspired me to keep on creating and made me excited to submit a quilted entry in the Artfields competition next year.

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Heather Ross Mini Quilt Swap

I have really limited my mini quilt swapping this year so it can focus more on my UFOs.  So far I have only signed up for two swaps, a Heather Ross swap and the May the 4th Swap. 

This was the finished mini I sent my partner for the HR swap.

For the this swap you had to use mostly Heather Ross fabrics.  I had seen some awesome HR fabric collections on Instagram and admired them, but I only had a couple of pieces from a few of her lines. I jumped in anyway hoping my partner would still love a mini full of kitties and luckily she did.

I fussy cute each hexagon and then added inner triangles so I was able to sew the hexagons together in rows without any Y seams. This method allowed me to sew the top together quickly and easily.

I used the kitties from the Tiger Lily line and some of the fish from the Mendocino line.

Then I saw this pin cushion caddy on Instagram and knew the sides would be perfect for fussy cutting some mermaids. 

This swap required at least three extras along with the mini.  I love getting extras myself so I was happy to add extras. First I made the caddy and purchased several notions to go inside. 

 I also made a cute ear bud pouch from this cute bee fabric,  also from the Tiger Lily line. I nabbed the photo of the pouch from my partner since I forgot to get a photo of it myself.  She did a great job with pictures. 

My partner loved it and I got a pretty spiffy package in return from my other partner.  Lots of hexies and lots of different prints along with some great extras.  I am in love.

Another great swap.  Now on to finish the Star Wars mini and get it shipped out in time for May the 4th.

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Tacked Up - 30 Blocks 30 Days

Carla from Creatin' in the Sticks is hosting 30 days of simple quilt blocks.

Each day in April she is showcasing a new block with directions and pattern ideas.  

Today I get to help showcase block #6  Tacked Up.  

I am ready for Spring so I decided to use some lovely spring fabric.  I used a bright pink in place of the white in the original block and a bright yellow to replace the gray.  I also changed the corners a bit by alternating two different fabric instead of using just one. It has given the block a whole new look with just changing color placement.

When you put several blocks together your eyes are drawn to the zig zags pink rows and the yellow butterfly squares pop off the quilt. While the alternating corners subtlety create 4 patch blocks  throughout the quilt.

I did a 4 x 5 quilt block layout to create a little larger rectangular quilt.  

I also used the cute butterfly fabric as part of the backing and binding. This fabric that has been sitting on my shelf for way too many years.  It has finally had it's day in the sun, literally and figuratively.  

Make sure to check back at Carla's blog everyday this month to see a new simple quilt block that can create a quick and lovely quilt. She is also creating a modern quilt using each each block. Can't wait to see her finished quilt!

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Project Quilting 9.5 "A Stitch in Time Saves 9"

I had a hard time with the theme this week.  I was going to do Dr. Who, but I already have two Tardis quilts and wanted something different.  My mind kept going back to cats and their 9 lives, but I didn't see how that would fit with the stitch in time part.  

Then I told myself, "If you don't hurry up and pick a pattern you will be up all night Saturday night trying to stitch way more than nine stitches..."  So I decided pattern choosing procrastination fit the theme and went with cats and their nine lives.    

I have been following the #candycatsqal on instagram hosted by @schnitzelandboo and even printed out the pattern to play along with the Quilt Along but still hadn't made any of my own kitties yet. The pattern is free from Unicorn Hearts and you can get it here: Candy Cats Pattern.

My plan for this week was to sew 9 Candy Cats at half the size and turn them into a mini quilt, but then I got sick, nothing bad, just a horrible cold which make me feel like doing nothing most nights other than vegging out in front of the TV.

Come Saturday I only had 2 cats done... What to do?  I really want to participate in all 6 challenges this year.  It will be my first year ever doing all 6.  So I decided to alter my plan and I turned those two mini kitties into  two 4 x 6 postcards ready for mailing.  

I got out my "Postcard Supplies" box, which hasn't been opened in years and pulled out what I needed.  The box has peltex, wonder under, and muslin backing all cut to size and ready go to.  Thank goodness for that.  I trimmed my kitties to size and turned them into postcards in plenty of time for me to hit the hay by 8pm.

I'm still feeling under the weather today, but am super happy I got my 9.5 project complete!

Check out all the other entries this week and vote for your favorites after noon CST today.

http://persimondreams.blogspot.ca/2018/03/95a-stitch-in-timechallenge-5-of.html

Can't seem to have a photo shoot without one of the real kitties helping out. 

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