Q 3 FAL List

It is time to list all my quilts that I hope to finally finish in the next quarter. 
I have to say that I am even worse at finishing my quilts than I feared I would be :) Well, there is always the next quarter of the year...

I did finish my heart quilt (post to come) and I did finish the baby book so they don't go on my list but there are still plenty of quilts left:

• making a black and green quilt with a basket weave pattern, on which I made some progress and cut the fabric to size

• the hexie quilt finally has a backing but it still needs quilting
• the log cabin quilt also has a backing but also needs quilting
• my christmas quilt was made into blocks and then... well it needs anything else. Because there were wonderful suggestions in the last post (thank you!) I still haven't decided which route to go
• I began quilting the Flea Market Fancy quilt but haven't finished yet
• my Double Wedding Quilt still isn't even pieced into blocks yet

So that is it, only six projects left :)
How are your projects doing?

  
Linking up with the 2017 Finish A Long:

With or Without?

In my last post I showed you how I did my star blocks. They are all finally finished but I just don't know whether to use sashing in between the blocks or just go without. I am also thinking of adding a tiny border around the quilt top once it is finished. Or maybe not?

What do you think? Any opinions? Sashing, border or not?

Thank you,
Johanna

Nordic Star Quilt Block Tutorial

Just the other day I was thinking that I should really cut the fabric for my Christmas Quilt. It is on my WIP list and I thought that Andrea's star pattern would be wonderful - but then I came across this image of a pillow and then I saw Rachel's winter mint Quilt and just like that I changed my mind about the pattern. I will be using Andrea's tutorial next time I am starting a quilt.

And since I couldn't find a tutorial for this particular block, here is my own. I am sure that there is a traditional block like this, but since I couldn't find it, I had to come up with a name myself.

 
Nordic Star Quilt Block

for each block (15 3/4" or 40cm) you need:

background fabric:
4 x 4" / 10cm squares
4 x 4 3/4" / 12cm squares
4 x 8" x 1 3/4" / 20cm x 4cm rectangles

focus/colored fabric:
4 x 4" / 10cm squares
4 x 4 3/4" / 10cm squares
1 x 1 3/4" / 4cm square

Instead of the 4 3/4 Inch (12cm) squares you can also get away with using 4 1/2 Inch (11,5cm) but since we will be using theses for half square triangles and mine rarely turn out perfect, I like to have some wiggle room for trimming. 

I sewed this block in cm so the measurements in Inch might seem odd but they should work out as I have always included a tiny bit of room for trimming.

Seam allowance is 1/4" or 1/2 cm.

Instructions:

Take your 4 3/4" (12cm) squares and put a colored one and a background one right sides together.

I like to arrange the colored sqaures so that they face in the right direction (with a print that has stripes that means that all stripes go in the same direction). On each back of the background fabric I draw a diagonal line: in two of the four squares I go from top left to bottom right and in the other two I go from top right to bottom left.

Then sew a quarter of an inch (5mm) along the diagonal line on either side.

Cut them apart on the drawn line and press them open, seams to the colored side of the square. 
Then trim back to 4" (10cm).

Now lay all your pieces out according to this picture:

Take your colored squares and sew them to the HSTs right next to it, press the seams to the colored squares.

Then take the background squares and sew them to the HSTs right next to it, press the seams to the background squares.

Now sew them both together, seams should nest. Press the new seam open so that it later lays flat. Trim now if there are any mismatched edges.

Take one long background fabric strip and on either side sew it to the squares we just created. Match the edges in "the middle" meaning where the colored squares meet the background fabric strip. Press seams towards the background strip. Repeat for the other half of the block. The background fabric strip will probably be a bit too long for the block but I didn't trim this until the whole block was completely finished.

Take the remaining two background fabric strips and sew them to the small 1 3/4" (4cm) focus fabric square. Press seams towards the background fabric.

Pin your long strip to one half of the block, making sure that you align the center square of the long strip with the background fabric strip of the half of the block. Seams should nest. Again the background fabric strip will be too long but since we are matching up in the middle, just overlook it at this stage, please.

Sadly I must have forgotten to take pictures at this stage - probably because I was so exited to get the block done. Repeat for the other half and press seams towards the middle. After pressing the entire block, you can trim again. The block should be 15 3/4" or 40cm.

Let me know if anything is unclear! If you make something with this tutorial please leave me a comment so I can come and visit you.

Johanna

Storm at Sea Quilt finished

Thank you all for your very nice and encouraging comments! You are absoluty right, just of these projects that I listed are very close to being finished but I find it so hard to just get them finished when there are so many fascinating projects to start.

Well, I am happy to say that the Storm at Sea Quilt is finally quilted and finished. This one is another bee quilt made with the help from my friends at Bee Germany as well as the fleißige Bee'nchen. 

  

I think I have never made a quilt entirely out of solids and while I really love this quilt, I don't think there is likely another quilt in the near future. I just have so many patterned fabric at home that needs to be sewn with first...

How are the projects on your lists coming along?

Q1 2017 FAL List

I have high hopes for 2017. For one, I would really like to finally finally finally complete the projects that have been piling up in my home and most of those are sewing related. So here is my list that I would like to complete within the next three months.

Finish the Storm at Sea quilt: only quilting left

Hexie quilt: still need a backing for this and then I can quilt it

Log Cabin Quilt: also still need a backing for this and then I can quilt it

Moving on with the Double Wedding Ring quilt since this project has been neglected for a long time

I also started on a christmas quilt some time ago and maybe I will finish it in time for christmas this year. The pattern is this tutorial from Andrea of Quiltmanufaktur and this is my fabric selection:

Finally quilting this quilt that has been sitting here for the past 3 years:

Linking up with the 2017 Finish A Long:

 

Hexie Bee Quilt

And just when I thought that I only got one quilt done in 2016, I remembered that I haven't shown this one.

My bee friends from Bee Germany and Fleißige Been'chen have all helped make these wonderful hexagons.

I just framed them in white, put them together, put on the recipient's favorite backing (red with white polkadots) and handquilted it all.

It wasn't on my list but it got done in 2016 so I am counting this as a personal win.

Also, I am so very glad that 2016 is over, this year was not one I would like to repeat. So cheers to 2017, I already like you! And not just because 2017 is a prime number and we have an extra holiday this year :)

How do you like 2017 so far?

This is what our 2017 looks like:

New Babyquilt with Park Life and Spring Walk

These past few months I seem to only have made it to the sewing machine when I needed to fix something - broken hems, seams, button holes - or when someone in my immediate family needed something like a bag. 

Well, since I am now a proud aunt, I dusted off the sewing machine and got to make a new quilt. Baby quilts are so rewarding: you can try that pattern that you always wanted to try but without commiting to a whole big quilt (because I still have so many of those waiting...) and it is always for someone who might not be able express his gratitude (if you don't count spitting up on it - when you think about it, that actually sound like a compliment) but they look so adorable on a quilt! 

This one is made from two FQ bundles: Park Life and Spring Walk ( both Cloud 9). I originally planned on making the back with the double gauze fabric from Birch (that's the green border you see on the backing) but they didn't have enough and I got to use more of my FQ this way. I also added a few fabrics along the way because I needed a color wheel (quilter's linen and some Heather Ross fabric).

Since this one has a very lofty batting, quilting it wasn't very easy and as you can see, it warps  a bit on the edges (it looks worse on the pictures and I think that after washing it, this should disappear).

It was very well received and I can see more quilts for the baby - judging by the rate I was sewing in the past years this will likely take a few years.

What have you been up to?

Johanna

 

Medallion Quilt

You might remember that at the beginning of the year I wanted to participate in the Finish-A-Long because I wanted to get some of my projects done.

Well, I am happy to report that I finally got one of them done! Please go here for the original post. My Medallion Quilt is finally hanging above my bed. Shame that I am moving in a month :)
Did you get anything done this weekend?

Erinnert Ihr Euch noch daran, dass ich am Finish-A-Long mitmachen wollte, damit ich endlich einmal ein paar meiner Projekte fertig stelle?

Ich habe am Wochenende die letzten Handgriffe an meinen Medaillon Quilt getan und jetzt hängt er über meinem Bett. Zumindest bis ich in einem Monat die Wohnung wechsele... Ich bin mir fast sicher, dass ich ihn wieder aufhängen werde :)
Habt Ihr dieses Wochenende etwas fertig gestellt?

Viele Grüße
Have a wonderful day!

Johanna

PS: habt Ihr jemals bemerkt, dass es Medallion Quilt im Englischen und Medaillon Quilt im Deutschen ist? Dieses wechselnde "i" macht mich ganz wirr!

Another perfect swap pillow and

So, you might have heard of the Swap°pen group on flickr. It is a group solely for people in Europe who speak German - since all other groups are english-based and mostly in the US, this is a wonderful exception. The ladies there also make gorgeous pillows which is the main reason I am participating :)
Here are the pillows I made in the other two "pillow rounds":

Swap #5 is over and has proven a somewhat challenging round for me. Not only did my partner - who I was making the pillow for - drop out 2 weeks before the deadline, but I was also moving at the same time, dealing with a ton of deadlines at work, a faulty internet connection at home (so no internet at all), the need to install everything at home (I let that one go pretty quickly, light and heat are obviously important but getting a bed can easily wait for two months while I sleep on a mattress) and the need to find another room mate asap because apartments in Munich are almost impossible to finance on your own (unless you are a millionaire - then you probably bought an apartment here anyway). Oh, and making christmas presents (see last post of my parents' quilt).

 So, the swap was a constant inner rant of "OMG, I am totally going to be late" and "I should have never signed up for this" and "What was I thinking, moving and signing up for this at the same time before christmas". I did manage to make it at the very last minute (and there were even packages delivered after mine) but I pulled some allnighters to get it done and I love my sleep. Thankfully, everything worked out while sewing, I didn't run out of fabrics and I didn't make any major sewing mistakes.

in progress

 And voilà, Miriam's pillow was made, packed and delivered and has been living with her ever since. I leaned heavily on her mosaic for inspiration and guidance (the mosaic has links to the originals).

I also managed to get - yet again - the most beautiful pillow in the swap. This one was made by Andrea of Quiltmanufaktur and it is living in wonderful company now with its three siblings from the other two swaps.

I don't know if I will be participating in the next round yet. It will be another pillow round but based on the X Factor Swap so that should make things easier. I guess we will see :)