ombre weave baby quilt - 26 in 21 quilt 2

a quilt! a quilt!
finally a quilt!
yes, i know it has been long overdue, but between deciding to vlog, a baby shower and now moving at the end of the month... sitting at my computer to blog clearly fell by the wayside.

but never fear... 26 in 21 is still going strong!

so let's backtrack to january, when i made this cute little number from start to finish... to go with a quilt that i STILL haven't finished...  insert facepalm emoji here.

lisa's caboose baby was born in october, so of COURSE she needed a quilt.  i was ready to get back in to some girly fun quilts after a wave of baby boys.  i had purchased 2 half jelly rolls from cali quilt co to make this ombre weave quilt, but it turns out... the "new colors" of the v and co ombre confetti fabrics just weren't all the fun colors i needed.  so i purchased a few more colors to punch up the variety, and well... this beauty was born.

punching it up with a few more colors really helped bring out the fun in this quilt... and it was SO EASY to make!  the trickiest part is making sure the different color chunks cut stayed in their zone to make sure each "circle" had one part of each section to get the matching effect.as far as the layout goes, i shuffled the colors around randomly, making sure the purples were spread out from each other, as well as the pinks, grays and such.  a few colors only had one or two blocks, so they were pretty easy to spread out throughout the remainder of the quilt without getting too much of a harsh diagonal of color... which is always something that drives me crazy when it isn't intentional.i used one of my favorite pantographs on this quilt, and it added the perfect amount of movement and texture to the quilt.  i actually used a goldish thread to coordinate with all the metallic dots (glide sand, if you're curious) and as usual... i was nervous when it first started quilting... but i LOVE it so much.

so much so, that i really need to hurry up and finish the second quilt, which is technically the first quilt... yikes!

but seriously...

just look at the minky backing too.

i'm glad i went with just the pink to bind it (which will also happen on the other quilt so they match that way) but it just quilted so fabulously on both the front and the backing!

this quilt is still just sitting at my parents, waiting to be shipped...
but word just came in that i *might* not actually have to ship it.  providing i can get the other one done in just 2 weeks.  here's to hoping!

and as always (since i'm saying it for the 2nd time now... so therefore, always) here's the current 26 in 21 playlist, which includes the videos from making this quilt!

pattern information: ombre weave by v and co

quilt count: 149

feeling forgotten?

 oh dear sweet blogger.

i haven't forgotten about you.
sure, my ventures in youtube land have been quite time consuming, but i know you're still here for me, waiting in the background.

here's a little bit about what's coming your way soon:
-ombre weave quilt
-purple weekender quilt
-strawberry quilt

i've also signed up to participate in my first swap in 5 million years (so it feels) and it is dinosaur themed... so i clearly couldn't resist.  you'll be able to see my finished items from that soon enough (my ideas are formulating and need to be shipped in march.

also.
throwing a social distance drive by baby shower, which i haven't made a quilt for, and packing up my entire apartment life all by the end of march.

no sweat... right?

circuit board quilt - 26 in 21 quilt 1

 the first final project from the 26 in 21 adventure is here!

for being such a big project, it actually wasn't too hard to get going and keep going throughout.
i think having the fabric purchased already was absolutely helpful to make that happen, which was kind of my hope for this first quilt.

the circuit board quilt was one that i saw at some point last year, and knew instantly it would be the perfect quilt for my older brother.
in contrast to the 4732 quilts i've made my sister (okay... like, 3...) i haven't made a single one for either of my brothers.  with markham's birthday being january 12, this was the perfect reasoning to kick off 26 in 21 with this beast.after purchasing the pattern, i had collected the various black on blacks from two places in town.  swifty stitches and cali quilt co.  the green, which is i believe "kelly" in the grunge family, also came from cali quilt co, as it was my final piece to pick up after leaving work one day in december.  i had all my fabric pulled and ready, and things were set to kick off on january 1st!while it felt like a dozen other things were happening at the same time, i still managed to set aside time to work on this quilt most nights.  i started with the traditionally pieced blocks (the straight line ones were first) and then once i moved my way through everything (even while hunkering down at my parent's for an over night car repair) and on to the paper pieced blocks.  for being straight diagonal lines, i sure found that they had their tricky moments!it was pretty fun getting all these black on blacks to look as scrappy as possible.  it turns out i had a lot of different star prints as well as polka dot prints.  keeping them from clumping sure was a challenge!  but i think i did a pretty fair job of it, even with this beast not being able to fit on my design wall.  i seriously underestimate how big 76 inches is ALL THE TIME even though i'm fully aware 72 inches is 6 feet... someday it might sink in....
someday...i quilted it after work one day on the q'nique 21 that we have at the shop, which is fully computerize and AWESOME.  i had purchased a cat themed pantograph that i felt would be perfect for this project (and let's be real... probably many more to come) and it totally was.  i also backed this quilt in shannon cuddle for the first time, and i pretty much love how it turned out.  i love the feel of a weighted blanket (hence that i currently have 5 quilts on my bed right now) and this cuddle backing adds a little extra weight to it.  plus, the pricing wasn't far off from the 108" wide backing i would have used anyways.  
i had enough of my black on black fabrics initially that i was able to do a black scrappy binding on the quilt to frame it all up without having to purchase anything additional.  which was extra nice, since i'm trying to track my fabric intake and outtake this year.  go me!
here's a peek at how the cuddle quilted up on the back.  perfect and fuzzy to replicate those black cats that always seem to reside in markham's room.

speaking of black cats...

apparently veruca has already tested out the quilt and made sure it was up to her standards.

this circuit board quilt was a fun new challenge to take on, and i totally enjoyed it being something new and exciting to kick off 2021 and my crazy plans.  don't forget, the whole journey is on my youtube channel, which you can find here:  emily's 26 in 21

pattern information: circuit board by flying parrot quilts
quilt count: 148

emily loves dinosaurs - teal dinosaur baby quilt

last quilt of 2020, first quilt post of 2021!

the moment this quilt pattern was announced, i think i was tagged at least three different times per post.  and so i instantly bought it the day it was released.  the pattern sat for awhile, waiting to become reality.  then, tayva asked me if i would make a sample for the shop, and of course i gave it a big fat YES.
picking the colors was the HARDEST part.

every sample i had seen was in rainbow, which was super cute and all... but i wanted to be different! i played with so many different grunge color ways, and ended up setting on this delightful teal/aqua combo.  gah.  so cute.
instead of having my plants different colors as well, i kept them to be just two shades of green grunge so they'd stand free of the dinosaurs as well.  the plants were the first things i pieced at a sew day way back when... and they went together so quickly!having the balance of regular grunge mixed in with printed grunges made the dinosaurs a lot more fun too.  i tried to keep one of each per dino, but you'll see in one of the stegosaurus blocks, one of them is SUPER printy.  he's still so cute though!  the blue t rex cracks me up a lot, because how his print ended up, it looks like he's got polka dot socks on.i ended up not using the solid turquoise grunge in the dinosaurs themselves, so i couldn't help but bring it in as the perfect bright binding.  and can we talk about this pantograph??
since i now have access to a computerized long arm machine at work, i HAD to make this pantograph happen on this quilt.  from far away, it looks like a stipple, but when you look closer, there are tiny little dinosaurs in there.  gah.  i love it so much.
i had a real good time piecing the back, and have no regrets at all.

the grunge stars are the same color as one of the plant colors, and i used a chunk of scraps to piece in some turquoise as well to get the right size.it was so much fun to do this little version of the quilt, that i cannot WAIT to do a larger version for myself.  yep, you heard it here.  i absolutely plan to do the lap size quilt in this same color scheme so i can have one all to my very own.

all the small pieces went together well, it was just super helpful to keep them labeled and in order (garage sale stickers are the best tip i've ever heard for that with elizabeth hartman patterns)

plus, i've got to get another use (or ten) out of that pantograph! 

pattern information: dinosaurs by elizabeth hartman
quilt count: 147

26 in 21 - an introduction

 well here we are, in 2021.
yeah, i know i mentioned a quilt post after the 2020 round up, but new years day on a friday really threw me for a loop...
but it's coming tomorrow!

in the meantime, i'm here to share with you my newest crazy venture as a result of what 2020 put us all through.
through the 15 minute a day challenges, to the bullet journal trackers, 2020 left me with needing something big and bold to really push me out of my comfort zone.  block party with emily was doing that to an extent with cali quilt co, but i was really needing a personal challenge that would be all my own.
whelp.  here it is.

26 in 21 has become the reality of what my comfort zone pushing needed.
the plan:  26 quilts made from start to finish every 2 weeks in 2021.
you read that correctly.
one quilt, two weeks, start to finish.
from fabric pull & cutting to quilting and binding.
yes, my brain is about to explode on it's own, so you're in good company!

i created my intro video last week, so you can take a look at that here:

so now the plan is that on tuesdays, the videos will drop regularly.  each quilt should end up with three videos, that is only if i mapped it out correctly.  video one will be an intro video, video two will be an in progress update, and video three will be the quilting, binding and final reveal.

some of my projects i've already got planned ahead, and others might end up flying by the seat of my pajama pants when they roll around.  the good news is, that january is planned in it's entirety.  so that's 3 down, 23 to go!

oh, did you notice i said videos would drop on tuesdays?  did you also notice that today was tuesday?

well, here you go!

in reality, my plan is that this will keep me finishing projects all at once, instead of having a quilt top linger forever... such an example would be the great juniper berry quilt of 2020.  top was done in march, but for some reason, i didn't get it finished until DAYS before christmas.

and i have nobody to blame but myself.

so here's to a new adventure in 2021, unlike any i've done before.

i'll be making these 26 projects, block party projects, and even more exciting (and possibly even non-quilty) things to come!

i'm also trying to track my fabric intake vs. outgoing this year... 

so wish me luck on THAT reality check!

things 2020 taught me

 oh boy, where do we begin with this year end round up?

it truly is a weird year to be saying farewell too...
and who would have thought that this photo that was from exactly a year ago today would have truly set the tone for the year's emotions.

and now here we are, bidding farewell to the year that was terrible for many, confusing for most and just straight up different for all.

what did 2020 teach me?

travel when you can.  and often.
i was able to go to quiltcon right before everything shut down, which also meant spending time in texas with my best friend.  i was supposed to go back over the summer, but hopefully next year...
hopefully.
i was also able (by way of work) to take a quick trip to SLC in september, which was nice to get some cousin time and shop hop a little bit.

curves aren't scary
i sewed TWO quilts with curves this year
parallel path and take heart were totally not scary at all, and have opened my eyes to new possibilities for quilting.
it was great to be able to challenge myself in a new way, in the midst of all the chaos.
plus, doing them as baby quilts really helped the new challenge seem a whole lot less daunting

take the plunge

with the shut down, playing the waiting game to go back to preschool was HARD.

happening in to the position at cali quilt co, which has clearly spiraled in to so much more than i could have imagined.  it was easily one of the HARDEST decisions i've ever had to make, and so many options were vented and tears were shed...but i don't regret it one bit.  preschool, from what i've heard from coworkers, is still in limbo anyways, so i would still be playing the waiting game.

taking the plunge in to something new and scary has pushed me in to wanting to come up with other new and challenging experiences, both in real life and virtual life.  block party has been it's own adventure with the shop, but i'm also looking to push and challenge myself in my own way via youtube.
nothing is "official" on that front yet... but given that i wanted to kick things off TOMORROW... i will probably be up late getting situated and what not.

as far as real life plunges... you'll have to wait on that until something official happens :)

breathe
one particular line from "everybody's free (to wear sunscreen)" by baz luhrmann always sticks out to me.  

"don't worry about the future. 

 or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum"

boy did 2020 bring some worries to a whole lot of people, and rightfully so.  but sometimes, you just gotta step away, take a breath and let things settle before jumping back in to it all.

sometimes it helped.  sometimes it needed an even longer breath.

and a whole lot of dr pepper.

other things from 2020
i binged a whole lot of tv...
schitt's creek
emily in paris

community

dash and lily

unorthodox

love on the spectrum

new girl

i stayed in touch with all my friends, both near and far.
i became proficient in wal mart grocery ordering. at least so i think...

i do miss sitting inside restaurants and eating... and hanging out with my friends.  and movie theaters. OH how i miss movie theaters...

but most of all

i made a lot of quilts, many of them for very important people.

can you tell it was hard for me to pick just a few favorites?
this is nearly all of them that i made from start to finish throughout the year!

but my FINAL quilt of 2020 will be revealed tomorrow!

goodbye 2020.
you were really something.  

but now i'm off to an adventurous 2021!

bright and merry juniper berry quilt

 this quilt has been a few years in the making, and now i'm super excited to say it is finally done!
and in true fashion, despite being the first christmas quilt started this year, it is the fourth and final one completed.  whoops!  but i have to say that even after all this time, it was well worth the wait.

i first saw the pattern in probably 2017 as part of a kit at fabric garden, a local quilt shop in the area.  they didn't have any patterns available solo, but they were able to eventually special order it for me.  after getting a pattern in my hands, it sat for awhile since i knew i wanted it, but didn't know what it would look like.  then, i found the backing fabric in 2018, which then set the tone for the whole quilt.

the bright colors reminded me so much of the tree lot scene in a charlie brown christmas.  i was happy to have an idea for a christmas quilt that had a traditional idea to it, but wasn't completely traditional in christmas colors.  i shop hopped around town to find a variety of colors and prints to make the trees unique, and then this project clearly sat for awhile since 2019 came and went, but still no christmas quilt.  i think this became one of my first projects for the 2020 UFO challenge, which was quite motivating early on in the year.  as you can probably guess, i fell off that wagon at some point.  i picked up the background fabric from thistle dew in january, which was after a great debate of what color to do.  i'm super glad i went with this icy blue that really helps the trees pop out.

when it came to selecting the borders, i knew i wanted them to be grunge, but also different than what was already in the trees.  i paid a visit to swifty stitches, since i knew susan had the stars which ended up being the perfect outer border.  the great debate for the inner border began, because i had just heard that glitter grunge was being released.  the green was the one color she didn't have on hand, and neither did any of the other local shops.  silver is more my vibe, but since she did have the metallic, i picked up the amount i needed just incase.  worst case scenario, i have more grunge in my stash.

while at quiltcon, i found and purchased some of the glitter grunge to audition for the inner border.
whelp.  i think you can tell the gold metallic won that battle, and now i have some glitter grunge in my stash!

i finally stayed with my plan, and quilted a wood grain free motion pattern on this quilt.

though, i couldn't bring myself to use red thread on the middle portion, or light blue thread on the borders, so i had to deal with a lot of color changes.  but it was so worth it.  

i just love the texture it brings to the quilt, and allows it to be a little more free and not exact.

okay, so FINALLY here's a look at the backing that started it all.
can you blame me??

i can't even remember how i came across it, but this alexander henry print was PERFECT in every way.

i did my usual way of breaking up a backing by including a stripe of the blue i had from the background on the front, which with that red bobbin thread really pops out that quilting. 

i also debated going for a bold binding, but with the amount of color going on in the trees, went ahead and got more of the grunge seeing stars in red to frame it up.  worked perfectly for the front of the quilt and the back!

this quilt took a lot of organization and planning when it came to the layout, but many MANY episodes of encore! on disney+ got me through it.  even though i had the top done in early spring, my procrastination (and other quilt distractions) got the best of me, making my own projects be the last ones done.  i'm SO glad that i was able to get it done before christmas and get use of it this year before putting it off for yet another year.

well, even though we're post christmas...it is still on my bed.

and while we may be rolling in to 2021 this week, i have no shame in my procrastination game right now.

honestly, i'm surprised my halloween pillowcases aren't out still...

pattern: juniper berry by antler creek design

quilt count: 146