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

legendary "big foot" quilt

this quilt has been on my "to do" list for the longest time, but it wasn't exactly one i wanted to make for myself.  i decided since i had made my aunt the civil war hazel hedgehogs the year before, and jacob & sarah got their boardwalk wedding quilt, it was only fitting that i make this quilt for my cousin ben.  he seems like a sasquatch king of guy anyways!
the shapes for this quilt were fairly simple, they were just VERY repetitive.  i know i spent a good chunk of time assembly line-ing the trees since they are all the same shape in various sizes.  this was one of the times where i used the trick of using yard sale stickers to label the pieces in their sizes to help stay on track.
one of the free motion motifs i learned from natalia bonner was this wood grain technique, which i felt was a perfect fit for the trees and "big foot" featured on this quilt.  instead of the standard top to bottom way of quilting on the long arm, i loaded the quilt in horizontally so that even though i was quilting left to right, my wood grain would end up vertical on the quilt.  i added a few "knots" in there to create some variety as well as be a little more tree like.
when debating what to put on the back, i joked about something historical or monopoly, since those were two very "ben" related things.  or something psychologist related... but that might be digging a little too deep.  haha.  i happened to remember seeing this coffee bean fabric at one of the local shops (fabric garden, i believe) and used it for the backing as well as the binding.  the colors were a perfect match to go with the front of the quilt and tie in perfectly.
the last time i made ben a quilt, it was a two sided t-shirt quilt with some thomas the tank engine sashing on it.  you can take at that beast and my other t-shirt quilts right here!  yeah, it was something alright.  i have to say, i am quilt pleased with the skill set i have now, knowing i can make fun and amusing quilts that are also acceptable to have as an adult.  granted, i'm sure now i could tweak some thomas the tank engine to be adult acceptable.  or at least not the focal fabric... haha
what will be my next elizabeth hartman creation?  stay tuned!
pattern information: legendary by elizabeth hartman
quilt count: 118

long arm quilting with natalia bonner

a handful of months ago, it was mentioned at one of our quilt guild meetings that a professional quilter would be offering classes at meissners in september.  i jumped online when i got home and registered myself for two out of the three classes being offered.

to be honest i knew nothing about Natalia Bonner at all, but i was excited for the opportunity to take some classes from a different instructor.  plus, every time i have gone in to use the long arm, i have steered myself away from thinking about free motion, and just stuck with pantographs.  the two classes i took were called "beginner's guide to free motion quilting" and "creative background fillers."  i opted out of taking "visual guide to machine quilting feathers" because i didn't feel like feathers were something that would interest me (since then, i've signed up for Angelina's feathers & swirls class in december)

i feel like with these classes i learned a good handful of things, but overall i feel a lot more confident in my free motion quilting.  when i took my initial certification class nearly a year ago, i felt very overwhelmed and put crazy expectations on myself.  plus, i was paired with someone who used to own her own long arm.  talk about intense!  now, almost a year later, i feel like i have a better grasp on the concepts of it, and enjoy it WAY more than when i did it on my home machine.  currently, i have one quilt that i do plan to free motion, just have to figure out what design will work best!

here's a look at some of my practice chunks, forever immortalized in blog format :)
day 1: beginner's guide to free motion quilting
day 2: creative background fillers
there are a few motifs that i'm excited to use from these classes.
i particularly like the wood grain from the first day, and i think that would look great on a baby boy quilt of sorts.  i really like the dense all over squares (did them both days) as well as the crackle looking one.  i think the crackle will look great on my pumpkin quilt, so hopefully i can get a move on that to make it happen!  surprisingly i didn't hate doing the swirls as much as i thought i would, and it was great to have angelina there to hang out with on the second day of classes!  i'm ready to get long arm quilting again, and will very likely be trying a free motion style when i am working on one of my projects :)

fearless fills and frills - free motion quilting class

finally catching up on talking about my free motion quilting class!
i have to say, i quite enjoyed this one.  the class had about 6 of us in it, which was nice.  the experience level was mixed, from ladies who had been doing fmq on their machine forever, to people like myself who had just taken the one class.  this class really built on the last one, giving us the next level of where to go.  we stitched ferns, strings of pearls and shells as border pieces.
here's the entirety of the first block we stitched on.
we started with the fern by stitching the middle section, then doing the right fronds (bottom portion) and the the left (top).  jenny lyon, our instructor, mentioned right handed people usually have a tougher time on the "left" side, but i actually found that size easier to stitch.
the shells were pretty easy, having done the double drip previously.  getting the angle right was a little tricky, that's for sure.  also, the string of pearls were... okay.  perfect circles aren't my jam really, but neither is things in straight lines.  i much prefer the "all over" look of things.  these all look too organized for my personal quilting style.
these two were a little more my style for sure.  the cute little scallop hills were fun.  some a little wider than others, but it gave them a bit of character for sure.  i REALLY like the one next to it, which she called stacked bananas.  just a bunch of looping back and forth, changing directions whenever felt fit.  this one was also very similar to the double drip from the first class... which might be why i liked it so much.
the other one i didn't get a closer up one of this jenny gave a different name, but i know it is called orange peel.  it requires a grid, which adds time to the project, but it was a nice little stitching motif.  it could be fun to do bigger as well, so that could be a potential for the future.
these second two were interesting as well.  the first one on the left was basically breaking the quilting in to chunks and essentially just echoing the lines zoned out.  almost like a topographic map... at least i think that is the name that i remember from earth science.  anyways, the second one is swirls and bubbles.  this one was a cute motif, but i had a bit of a struggle to get my swirls to lay the right way to not look funky.  the little bubbles helped balance things out for sure.
things i took away from this class:
more motifs.  obviously.
learned about using things as borders.  not sure if this is something i'll use, but i know how to do it now!
benefits of gloves/something grippy.  now, i'm the only one who showed up to class without gloves, but it wasn't required so i wasn't being a rebel.  having long fingers anyways, i have a hard time buying gloves because they really don't fit.  i did borrow some hand grip things from jenny, from a brand called "the steady betty."  these "betty bands"seemed to do the job awesomely, and i didn't have to worry about my fingers being the right length (or not, in reality).  should i see more fmq becoming a constant thing in my sewing future, i will likely invest in a pair of these.  next time i end up at meissner's, i'll also likely look for a straight stitch plate for my machine.  i heard it does wonders for piecing as well.
and there you have it!  part of me wishes that i did my 21 day practice after this class because it would have given me more motifs to practice, but i can also see how that would also be overwhelming.  oh the struggle!  i believe meissner's offers one more free motion quilting class that i am debating taking, so hang tight to see if that happens.  in the mean time, i'll be working on catching up blogging and block piecing so be sure to pop by my instagram to see what is happening :)

free motion quilting - days 14-21

the end is here!
after last week's slump and being able to laugh at my flowers, it was much easier to convince myself to knock out the last week of stitching practice.  i tried a few new things that i saw lisa attempt once she started her own free motion challenge at the start of feburary, and while they look mostly like what they were supposed to, they totally weren't my jam.  aka the bows.  but anyways.  i have officially completed the 21 days of free motioning, and this upcoming saturday is my next class on the subject matter.  here's this final week of blocks:
2/1
2/2
2/3
2/4
2/5
2/6
2/7
2/8
so in the end,
i've come to find i like the wandering all over styles, such as pebbling & the double drip.
if i was continue this even longer, i'd probably try and figure out how to make my loops and flowers look a little more randomly wandery.  if that is even a thing.  throwing some extra loops in between totally helped out, but i am still hoping to one day feel confident in my all over "doodling" if you will.  or maybe i'll just keep my training wheels on with pantographs for a little bit longer.
stipple.  yeah, it threw off my groove for sure.  it put me in a mindset of aiming for perfection instead of just going with the groove.
can't remember if i've said it before, but i don't feel that i will be quilting anything major on my machine with these skills, but as always, being able to have a skill and not use it is better than not at all.
but there you have it, the conclusion of my 21 days of free motion quilting fun!
i'll be sure to update you on whatever adventures happen from this weekend's class with jenny lyon!