{Blogger's Quilt Festival:Fall 2012 Edition}

It's {Quilt Market} time which also means it's time for the {Blogger's Quilt Festival} hosted by {Amy's Creative Side}. My entry for this quilt festival is the SWOON quilt I made as a 75th birthday quilt for a very special family member.

I fell in love with the SWOON quilt pattern and ordered it from Thimble Blosssoms. I wasn't sure who I would make be making it for but decided to use a fat quarter of Chrysalis by Sanae for Moda that I had purchased a few month earlier. 

I made my first block in October of 2011. I hadn't been quilting for very long at that point in time and this was the most difficult quilt block I had attempted. I gathered all my material, carefully cut out the pieces for the first block and started sewing.  I used a Singer machine that I bought for my daughter when she was in Junior High School. The only presser foot was the one attached to the machine and even though I thought I was sewing a 1/4" seam it seems I was a bit off. The finished block was supposed to be 24" and mine finished at 23". Oops. I figured as long as I was consistent in my inaccurate seaming, all the blocks would end up the same size and my finished quilt would be a little smaller than the pattern stated.

 I ended up sewing two more blocks between October and December 2011. All of them finishing up at 23". Great. 

Fast forward to January 2012......I purchased a new Singer machine specially designed for quilters. It came with a huge selection of presser feet, the most important being a 1/4" foot. Excellent. Now I'll be sewing accurate 1/4" seams. I had set aside the SWOON blocks and busied myself with making a few other quilts. Once I realized the SWOON blocks would make a great quilt for an upcoming birthday celebration, I pulled out all the fabric, cut another block out and started sewing with my new machine. This block ended up being my favorite.

And, yes, this block finished at 24". A whole inch bigger than the three other blocks. There was no way to make this work with the other three blocks so I had to pull out the old machine and make another block with my familiar inaccurate seaming. So, after a little agonizing and aggravation she was done. 

This quilt was quilted by Melissa at {Sew Shabby Quilting}. I picked out an allover pattern of loops and butterflies, which fit perfectly with the butterfly theme of the fabrics. Melissa had her done and back to me in little more than a week. I was so happy with how this turned out. She finished at 53x53 and was delivered to her new home in September of 2012. 

Thanks for peeking at my {Blogger's Quilt Festival} entry. I'm really enjoying this quilting journey. Click  over to see the beautiful entries from the quilting community.

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{Chrysalis SWOON Quilt}

I'm so excited! Ann's SWOON quilt just came back from the quilter yesterday and I love it! The fabric used is {Chrysalis} by Sanae for Moda.

 The colors are so pretty and the fabric patterns are wonderful. The theme throughout is butterflies so I chose an all over "flutter byes" pattern for the quilting.

I sent this quilt out to a new quilter. Her name is Melissa from {Sew Shabby Quilting}. I read about her over at {Diary of a Quilter} blog and figured Amy Smart wouldn't steer me wrong. Melissa's shop is in Utah and she prides herself in a quick turnaround time. I package up the quilt and backing and mailed it off. One week later the quilt was on it's way back to me.


I'm always excited when a quilt comes back. I couldn't wait for a free moment to tear open the box and get a look. I'm so happy with the results! Melissa quilted the butterfly pattern and chose an ecru thread to match the quilt top. It was a perfect choice. She did a beautiful quilting job and I can't wait to see it finished. Tonight I'm making the binding and I hope to have it finished by the weeks end. More photos to follow........

{Project 365+1: Week 34}

{You Make Me Want to Swoon}

So, I finished block number five. I really like the way it came out and I like the fabric. The green is the same fabric I'll be using for the quilt back. 

Something I was concerned about happened.....this block, sewn with my new, accurate sewing machine, is the size it's supposed to be- 24 1/2". The other four are 23 1/2". I'll have to do some creative planning to make this one work.

{I'm SWOON-ing again}

Well, last night after my husband abandoned me for the next two days, I pulled out the next SWOON block pieces I cut a week & a half ago, started the next episode of {Breaking Bad} and began sewing. It felt good to set up the sewing table in the living room, the ironing board in the kitchen and not have to worry about blocking the television or access to the kitchen cabinets. I fully intend on leaving it all set up until tomorrow morning which is when my hubbie is expected home. 

Why did it feel like I haven't sewn anything in months? Maybe because I haven't sewn anything in months? At least it seems like months. The SWOON block is coming together quickly. I've done a lot of quilt piecing since I made my first SWOON block last October. I'm much more comfortable following a pattern and more confident in my piecing ability. And, I have a new sewing machine since January. This is my first SWOON block using the new machine which has a 1/4 inch quilting foot.  I'm sure I'm getting a much more precise 1/4 inch seam now. One problem.....I hope that I'm not sewing such accurate seams that this block size doesn't match the block size of the other four I've already completed. I guess I'll know tonight when I finish it.

So, the plan for this evening is to  finish up block five, cut out block six, finish Season 4 of {Breaking Bad} and ignore the sink full of dishes until tomorrow morning.

PS: I didn't make the bed this morning either.....

{We plan and the producers of 'The Walking Dead' laugh}

I had big plans for this past Saturday and Sunday. Since we would not be going out to Mattituck because Steph was home from Tennessee to attend a friend's wedding and the temps were expected to be in the high 90s {I'm m-e-l-t-i-n-g}, I'd be setting up the sewing machine and spend hours working on the blocks for {Doc}, the May Schnibbles. I know, it's July and I'm behind big time. 


Saturday at 11:30am the entire plan went awry. Seems this weekend, as in Saturday and Sunday, was {The Walking Dead} marathon, all 19 episodes. This was the lead up to a preview of Season 3 at 10pm on Sunday. So, other than cutting the fabric for another {Swoon} block no sewing got done. I spent a good part of the entire weekend on the couch watching all but 3 episodes.  I had to cook and do some laundry so I wouldn't feel completely useless.


I missed out on two days of being productive, at least as far as quilting goes. I never thought that I'd be able to say that I have four {WIP}, that's quilt-speak for 'works in progress'. I have to shift the quilt plans around again since I now have a 75th birthday for someone special coming up in September. It looks like {Swoon} will be going to a different home. I'm making this a priority so I'll have it done and quilted with time to spare. I hope I don't get distracted again.

{More to Swoon Over}

Last night I dreamed about butterflies. They are certainly one of God's most wonderful creatures. We don't see them often in Brooklyn, but we see them all the time during the summer in {Mattituck}. They always catch my attention and always make me smile.

The Swoon blocks are coming along. I've got four of them done so far. I really don't want to post any photos yet since I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'm using {Chrysalis} by Sanae for Moda.

I've had these fabrics since last June and was waiting for the right project to use them on. I'm getting more comfortable with the pattern and the blocks are coming together much quicker now. I'm hoping to finish another one this weekend. I may only have Sunday this weekend to work on it since we're heading to PA for the Lehigh vs. Holy Cross football game.  The weather will be perfect for football!

{Swoon}

I couldn't resist the pattern for {Swoon} by Camille Roskelley. I first saw it on her blog Simplify and decided that I'd like to try one of the blocks. She's also the designer of one of my favorite fabric lines, {Ruby}. The colors are beautiful. Anyway, I cut the fabric three nights ago and finished the first block this afternoon. I think it turned out  pretty darn good for a first attempt at a more complicated pattern. I even had a turn with flying geese for the first time. The only problem I ran into is that the finished blocks are supposed to be 24 1/2" and mine are 23 1/2". Guess my 1/4 " seam allowances aren't exactly 1/4". I would think that as long as I'm consistently inexact I'll be ok. Next week I'll cut another block and piece it. I'll see how long it takes to finish the 9 blocks required to complete the quilt top. I already have someone in mind to give it to...