Halloween Hex: A Finished Quilt

I am happy to say that my newest Halloween quilt, "Halloween Hex" is finished.  Cheetah loves the name because it reminds him of a witch's hex and hexagons.

It is made from new fabrics, old fabrics, and the scraps of five projects.  I used the Hex N More and Super Sidekick rulers to cut it out.  The half hexagon on the ruler wasn't the right shape, so I used a quarter inch glow line tape to mark the one I needed for the sides of the quilt.

My hexagons were cut from 8.5 inch strips and my triangles were cut from 4.5 inch strips.  I moved my design wall to the floor because it wasn't big enough for this lap quilt.  It was neat that the whole thing could move together because it is on foam insulation board.

I was able to sew it together very quickly with no Y seams, because the blocks are diamond shapes and sewn into rows.  

Here is the finished top before quilting.  All of the pieced blocks are from scraps.  I think it is my use of scraps that makes this quilt so much more interesting.

Spider webs was the obvious choice for a quilting design, but I decided to quilt with continuous curves instead.  I used my Hera marker to divide each hexagon into triangles.

Then I used the small Fine Line Continuous Curved ruler to quilt arcs.  It was the perfect size to make a practically perfect circle around and through my hexagons.

The ruler was neat because it is the same size on the inside and outside of the curve.  I used both sides while quilting this quilt. I love doing ruler work on my Baby Lock Tiara.

I have heard some people call this type of quilting "pumpkin seed,"  which I think is particularly appropriate for a Halloween quilt.   The light gray thread gives a spider web effect without being spider webs.

Monkey helped me pick out orange minky for the back.  I originally wanted wanted a purple minky, but I couldn't resist my cute boy and the polka dots.

Monkey has been sleeping with the "family quilt" for the past two nights, but during the day it is on my railing built in quilt holder.  It looks so cute next to Mr. Bones.

At least it is there until Monkey decides to use it.  ;)

The quilt is bound is a fun black and white stripe, conveniently printed on the diagonal.

It is a bit busier than my normal bindings, but is really fun for a Halloween quilt.

Quilt Stats #187
Name:  Halloween Hex
Pattern: Hexagons with Triangles
Fabric Used:  Halloween Fabrics and Scraps
Amount Used:  About 8 yards
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20
Size:  About 54 x 72 inches
Date Finished:  October 2016.

Happy Halloween!

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my side bar, including Oh Scrap.

Mr. Bones: A Finished Quilt

My skeleton is out of the closet and now part of a finished quilt!  We have named him, "Mr. Bones" and can frequently be heard singing to him the Mr. Bones song from White Christmas.  My boys love this glow in the dark skeleton.

I quilted him on my Pfaff.  The panel is quilted in black Aurifil, and the borders are quilted in Superior Threads' glow in the dark thread.  I used a creamy white Aurifil thread in the bobbin with the glow in the dark thread just in the needle.

It is the most expensive thread I have ever purchased.  The little spool only contained 80 yards of thread.  I had a few problems with the thread shedding, but according to Monkey it is cool so definitely worth it.

The back of the quilt was pieced with Halloween fabric I had on hand.

I outlined the skeleton and spider webs to give it dimension.  Then I filled in the empty black spaces with extra spider webs.

I quilted wiggly lines in the piano key borders.

It is bound in black for a nice frame.

Mr. Bones has already been seen wandering the neighborhood trying to find the perfect photo spot.  (My neighbors must think I'm crazy!)

He really liked the web covered rocking chair.

But he will have to stay at my house until he goes back in the closet.

Quilt Stats #186
Name:  Mr. Bones
Pattern:  Panel with piano key border
Fabric Used: The Boo Crew panel
Amount Used:  3.5 yards
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20
Size:  About 32 x 53 inches
Date Finished: October 2016

It is too bad I can't take a good picture showing him glow in the dark; however, here is a sneak peek at my next quilt that I used the scraps on.

It is basted and ready to quilt.  Monkey keeps asking me to hurry and finish it.  He says that he needs to sleep under a Halloween quilt, even if it is for the whole family.  Ha!

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar.  Check them out to see what others have been working on.

A Couple Older Finishes

Before I started my blog, I made a list all of the quilts I had made and gave each of them a number.  Anything I didn't think of as a quilt wasn't given a number.  I considered this United States Map and a Solar System print as play rugs.  So they didn't get numbers.  However, when I pulled them out to hang on the wall, I realized that they were whole cloth quilts.  I have now numbered them 10B and 10C because they were finished about the same time as quilt number 10.  Now that they are officially quilts, numbered, and hanging up in my house, I thought I should share them on my blog.  ;)

I quilted the map with the walking foot following the lines on the licence plate backing.

I really like how it turned out on the front.

This quilt now lives in Monkey's room.

The other quilt I mentioned above is the Solar System Quilt.

I quilted it by following the lines of the plants and their orbits.

The backing was a coordinating print I found.

This quilt now lives in Panda's room.

I have now lived here for over six months and will be giving a blogging tour of my house soon.

XX,
Jasmine

Mom's Second Turning Twenty: A Custom Finish

My mom finished piecing her second Turning Twenty quilt for the grandchildren's room, and I finished quilting it on my Tiara.

It is very similar to her first one.  It just has a different border, binding, and backing.  As I was quilting it I was thinking, "Second verse, same as the first."  However the quilt tops are not exactly the same.  So it needed a similar, but different quilting design.

Cheetah wrote me the sweet message with the smiley face.  They made my day.  

I quilted the second quilt in a mum design.  It was basically just adding extra rows of scallops to the cherish design in the first.    Here they are side by side.  The mums are on the left and the cherish design is on the right.

My mom also had me add the binding to this one by machine.  She is happy they are both finished.

This quilt looks so pretty in the sunlight.

I love the texture from the mum quilting.

It looks cute on the back as well.

We laid one quilt on top of the other to see the differences.

Even though they used the same 20 fabrics, the one with the pink looks warmer overall and the one with the purple looks cooler overall.  My art teacher sister said that is because of "Simultaneous Contrast."  It basically means that colors will look different based on what they are put with.  I had never heard of that before, but it makes sense.

XX,
Jasmine

My Niece's Fifth Quilt

Although this is my niece's fifth quilt, this is the fourth quilt I have helped her make.  We have a pretty good system down for when she comes to visit now.  She selects a pattern (usually by looking at quilts on my blog), I tell her what fabric to buy, she purchases fabric with my mother-in-law or another aunt, I help her cut it out, she pieces it at my mother-in-law's house, then we finish it together.
The first quilt I helped her with we tied, the second and third we quilted on my mom's long arm with a digital pantograph, but I suggested quilting this one with a walking foot so she could be more involved.  The quilting design was inspired by Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts.  While I still quilted 95% of the quilt, my niece did quilt three rows.

After it was quilted, she watched me add the binding.

I think it turned out awesome.   She really has a good eye for fabrics which go together well.

I suggested she get four lights, mediums and darks of one color and four of an accent color.  She chose grays and blue.  Her backing is black.  (I think all of her backing have been black so far.)

We used a gray thread for quilting.

It looks great on the front and back.

This is yet another quilt she can be proud of.

I love spending time with her making quilts!

XX,
Jasmine