Believe It or Not

~But, I am making this quilt at the request of my boys!~

Back in January when I made the American Hero giant start quilt for some friends, my boys requested that I make another one for the family.  The colors they wanted:  pink and purple.  Panda added that he also wanted flowers on the back.  Sevem months later, they are absolutely thrilled that I am finally fulfilling their request. 

I am still using the giant star tutorial by Jeni Baker at In Color Order.  One big difference in the making of this quilt is that I now have a 20.5 inch Omnigrip ruler.  It has made cutting out the eighteen inch squares and squaring up the 17.5 inch HST super easy.  I love this ruler that my boys gave me for Mother's Day. 

Things have been so busy and crazy that all the sewing I have done for the last week and a half is the "blocks" for this giant star quilt. 

I plan on adding a 1.5 inch border all the way around of the cream star fabric.  Then I will add a 2.5 inch purple border to the top and bottom, and a 5 inch pink border to the top and bottom.  (These sizes are determined by the amount of fabric I have left of each color.)  It will look a lot like the American Hero quilt I made. 

I love the way it turned out with the more modern borders.  Personally, I don't like square quilts as much as rectangular ones.   Which is probably why I gave away my first giant star quilt. 

Hopefully, I can get this quilt finished soon.  I know with our crazy schedule that it may not happen for a few more weeks.  I am hoping that things settle down in September, but with two family birthdays I am not sure. 

XX,
Jasmine

Garden View: A Finished Quilt

I am happy to say that I have finished this floral quilt for my Sister-in-law.  I ended up with one less day, because there was some confusion about when she was leaving. I was able to get it quilted, bound, labeled, and gifted all in one day.  That took me five hours.  She loves it and is excited to take it with her on the plane, because she always gets cold.  She also looks forward to cuddling with it on the couch. 

I appreciated the name suggestions I received on my post about the quilt, and combined the ideas to come up with the name, "Garden View."  It feels like looking through the windows at a beautiful garden.  Finishing this quilt was my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (Link #55).  It feels great to have it finished early. 

I quilted it just like I planned in this post.  The only thing I didn't specify was quilting Xs in the cornerstones.  To quilt the Xs I used one of my long arm rulers.  The 45 degree lines on the ruler helped a lot when lining up the ruler. 

I LOVE the texture that the quilting added. 

You can see the texture even more on the back.  (If you look closely, you can see my label in the lower right corner.) 

In fact, I may like the back more than the front. 

The backing is a darling Primitive Gatherings fabric for Moda.  It is a green print on a cream background.  Perfect for quilting with those two colors of thread. 

I still love the way the front turned out.  Quilting the flowers and the squiggles was so much fun. 

I bound the quilt in the Kona Crimson fabric, and I love how it pulls the reds and pinks out of the floral. 

If I had that extra day, I would have bound this one by hand.  But my sister-in-law loves it the way it is.  Thank goodness!  ;)

And here is one more picture of "Garden View" with a view of my garden.  

Quilt Stats #111
Name: Garden View
Pattern: 9 inch squares with 3 inch sashing and cornerstones
Quilting Design: Flowers and a Wiggle
Fabric: From my stash and Kona Crimson
Backing: Primitive Gatherings
Amount Used: 6.5 yards
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Size: About 51 x 63inches
Date Finished: August 2014
What I Learned:

• I need to pay closer attention when cutting if I don't feel well.  (I cut a whole green strip out at 9.25 inches instead of 9.5 inches.  Luckily, I barely had enough to complete the sashing.)
• I made the bobbin tension slightly tighter than normal on my Tiara when quilting with the Omni thread from Superior Threads.  I didn't have problems with it slipping out of the bobbin hook this time.  :)
• Fussy cutting uses up a lot more fabric!

It was difficult photographing this quilt, because of the contrast between the red and green.  I think the colors may be the most true in this indoor photo. 

 XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, (links of sidebar) and Finish it up Fridays. 

The Month of July and August Goals

July is always a busy family-filled month, and I would not have it any other way.  I was able to sneak in some sewing time and finished the quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest. 

While "Scatter Sunshine" is not my favorite quilt, I had a lot of fun making it.  And I think of the recipient often, even though it will be someone I have never met. 

I also was able to start a really fun hand sewing project.  I am making the Dancing Daisies drunkard's path quilt. 

I don't have much more to show on this project, because I have mostly been preparing pieces to sew.  I was hoping it would be a portable sewing project, but for some reason when we are out and about my boys keep me too busy to sew.  :)

Plus, I took a week off of quilting to organize photos of my boys.  I printed more than 600 photos and have put them in special 4 x 6 photo sheet protectors for my boys.  It had been a year and a half since I had last printed pictures of my boys.  (Hmm... that's about when I started quilting again.)  They are excited to be able to see these pictures of themselves.  Sometime I may do some more scrapbooking, but for now they are organized, and I feel great! 

At the end of July, I finished a quilt top for my Sister-in-law.  It is now basted and ready to quilt, so my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to quilt, bind, label and gift this floral quilt.

She will be flying home to Germany this week, so it needs to be a fast finish.  I have been so busy with family, that I will have to make time to quilt it.  I know August is going to be a busy month getting Cheetah and Panda ready for the new school year, so I am glad I will be finishing my goal early again.  :)

Have a great month!

XX,
Jasmine