How I Quilt - Centering Triangles

I've made a good bit of progress on my Sunnyside quilt - as a matter of fact, it's finished! I finished it last week sometime (or maybe even the week before??) but as I've been working day shift lately, it's dark when I get up to go to work and it's dark when I come home, so alas, no pictures yet. Soon, though!

One of the steps of this quilt involve ending a column of piecing with a triangle, which becomes the corner of the block. (Here is a reference for the finished block, in case you've forgotten. Which I wouldn't blame you for...)

There are lots of different ways to make sure your triangles end up centered, but here is how I do it:

Fold it in half lengthwise and finger press...

Line up the point of the triangle with the press line...

Chain piece the crap out of that ish...

Hey look! You're done! So pretty and symmetrical! Makes it so much easier to square up these blocks!

Hopefully I'll have a change to photograph this quilt over the weekend. Maybe I'll baste it too?? Let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Build Me Up Buttercup

I have a finish! Whaaaat!!

Yeah, I know, I can't believe it either! I actually finished this quilt last week (maybe the week before? I just finished midterms, my brain is broken...) and I took some pictures of it right away, before I lost the light and/or the top got wrinkled.

I started this quilt intending it to be a nap-sized couch quilt (~60" square) but after it got to that size, I decided I liked it too much and wanted to make it bed-sized. It's a little small for my queen sized bed, but I have a few inches of overhang on each side so it's passable.

You can see where I planned out additional blocks after I finished the quilt top the first time... I also cut the fabric to preserve the directionality, which is a really nice effect with these beautiful prints!

This was a fun one. Super fast, instant gratification blocks. I've already started on the back, so once I figure out how I want to quilt it I'll finish the back, baste it, and get going!


Stats:
Build Me Up Buttercup
72"x84"
Fabric used is Meadow by Leah Duncan
Pieced with Aurifil 2600
On my Bernina 750 QE

Quilting ADD...

So apparently I can't finish one thing before starting another... I've had a plan for my FQ stack of Sunnyside for aaaaages... I just haven't had a chance to work on it! But since working on my Meadow quilt (which is finished - more on that later this week!) I've gotten a fire lit under me for piecing. So I decided to make a "sample" block... which turned into 6, which turned into cutting out the whole quilt. And I've even gotten the backing already! (I am SO BAD about making tops and then procrastinating on the backs forever!)

So here is what I have so far - I'm using Tula Pink's Treasure Hunt pattern, which she released for Acacia.

I'm still working on this pretty steadily, so I'm sure I'll have some more to share soon!

Something Sunny :-)

Remember this picture?

I really love Meadow by Leah Duncan. I made enough blocks for a little quilt. (I'm also actually hoarding a half-yard bundle of Tule, just waiting for the right moment...)

I liked it so much, in fact, that I decided to make more blocks.

Then I decided I wanted to put it on my bed, so I made even more.

These blocks are done now, so I just have to put them together and finish the top!

Short Stack

Except not. At all. I finally got all of those HSTs made, and here they all are...

My friends, that is 11.5 inches of HST that need to be pressed and trimmed. And trimming HSTs are my least favorite quilting task ever. Which is sad, because I seem to make a lot of HST-based quilts...

Here they are all pressed. May the trimming commence!!

P.S. I have been getting lots of questions about the table! I got it from Beba's Boutique, which is a booth from the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show. I've been looking at their tables for the last couple years, and finally decided to pull the trigger. I've been using it for a couple weeks and love it, and even pulled out the extension table and side slidey-thingy to quilt a baby quilt with a friend of mine a little bit ago. It was amazing - so much space!! And just to be clear, I am in no way affiliated with Beba's, they have no idea I even blog or anything.

WIP Wednesday!

What?? A WIP? That's so exciting! Lol. It doesn't take much to excite me about sewing lately!

Anywho, here is something I threw together the other night when I was in need of some instant gratification...

I got a super cute mini charm pack from my LQS a little bit ago, and I decided to make one of Julie's Rock Candy quilt blocks, just teeny!

There seems to be a theme going on in my sewing room lately, as you might have seen on instagram. Stars, anyone?

That time I had to un-do my un-doing...

Or, alternately, "how I managed to screw up one of the easiest blocks in the history of the world."

I tell ya, my blog earns its name.

I've been making progress on my scrappy trip, and the other day I had a big ol' stack of blocks that were at the point where they were in the little pieced strips, but still needed to be seam ripped into the different strips for the block. Go here if you are royally confused. I'll wait.

See the pile of plates on the top left? Those are the ones to which I refer...

Ok, so these blocks and I were sitting on the couch, watching netflix and seam ripping (Prison Break, I think?) and apparently, I can't multitask that well.

Because this happened:

Yep. Somethings not right... At least I figured it out before I put the whole block together. But I had to seam rip the two rows I put together, and then re-piece the strips that were wrong, and then seam rip them at the right places, and then sew the rows back together to make the block.

I'm a winner.

BUT! I have a pretty stack of blocks that are all done and ready to be pressed and trimmed. So yeah, I win.

They're very fluffy. I have the urge to squish them.

So Close!

The other day, I mentioned that I had three blocks left to finish for Honey Honey.

Now I have none :-)

I still need to sew the blocks together, and add the border, but I'm still counting this one as almost done :-)

More English Paper Piecing

I started the second May block of the Skill Builder BOM the other night. This one is also paper pieced, but it's very different from the first one! I've never done paper piecing with these shapes before, so that was fun. Except not really. But it was ok.

I started with this stack. The block is supposed to look like a gemstone when it's finished, so I wanted to get a bunch of different shades, so it would look like it was sparkling.

I printed the templates and cut them out, then decided how I was going to split up the colors.

Getting ready to baste.

I've actually finished both of these blocks, so I'll show them to you soon!

Skill builder BOM April.... Progress

I've been kind of quiet about the Skill Builder BOM for April. That's because there isn't much going on. The blocks for this month are pieced by hand! I put off starting them forever, and finally got a move on the other day. I've done a very little bit of paper piecing in the past, and really like it. It's very meditative.

I cut the fabric and basted all these tinies one night while watching TV. It went really quick! I started piecing the rows too.

Of course, in the tradition of Ineptitude, I started piecing it wrong. This is what I started doing:

Seam ripping sucks to begin with, but ripping hand stitching sucks even worse!

This is what the block is supposed to look like! I'm really liking this! There is another block that I haven't started yet, so I'll share that one when it happens!

(Way) late to the party...

So there are a few informal quiltalongs that make the rounds on Instagram... I caught the bug on the xplusalong earlier this year, and I'm loving the results from that one. Soooo... I know I'm way late on this one, but the quilt I started the other day is a scrappy trip around the world!

I've seen these all over the internet, and they are all so fun. Katy has made like 20 already this year!

It took me a while to catch on to this one because I just didn't know what fabrics I wanted to use. I knew that I wanted the fabrics to at least sort of coordinate, and not be too dark. I decided to cut into a big ol' stack of FQs that I've been hoarding, and just go for it.

I'm liking this.

These blocks come together SO FAST!!! It's unbelievable. I've worked on this quilt twice total, and have 15 blocks done. And those two sessions included pressing and cutting all the fabric!

I've still got a while to go - I'm going to do 48 I think. I've even got an idea for the scraps for the back.

So yummy!

Not taking my own advice...

I know, after saying I was trying to finish this quilt before starting a new one the other day, I promptly went back on my word.

I cut into a FQ stack of Good Fortune that I've been hoarding for a year and a half. I don't know what got into me, I have three other quilts that I've had planned for a while, and that I have all the fabric pulls ready for. I also have this quilt that desperately needs to be finished quilting. That has been a WIP for waaaaay too long.

I guess I just needed a change of scenery?

It is a pretty view...

From Instagram: a fresh jar of selvages and 48 empty plates = a new quilt about to start!

Everything laid out, getting ready to fill those plates!

Here they are, all ready for stitching!