For The Birds or the Fun!

Finding time to make projects from our bucket list isn't always easy!  My list is much like every other persons, long and always getting longer!  As much as I'd like to make every single project on that list, realistically it isn't possible.  In the end I tackle small projects that take hours instead of days to make.  

With a bit of time on hand I seized the moment and made a few Mini Mini quilts!  It satisfied my urge!  At least for the time being!

First up is this amazing Hummingbird Mini!

SUGAR BABY
8" X 8 1/2"

I love hummingbirds!  Nicole Young @lilllyella designs amazing paper pieced patterns!  When I saw this one I knew one day I was going to make it!  'Sugar Baby' is one of Nicole's free patterns available here: Sugar Baby!  

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is probably the first one we think of when talking hummers!  The iconic iridescent red throat and emerald green body is always a beautiful sight to see.  



The block was not terribly difficult to piece which made me happy!  It took a couple hours to piece the block together with not one single mistake until I was putting the sections together!  That was human error and not anything to do with the pattern!



The crowning moment for me was the wing!  I picked the gray fabric the night before, but knew I needed daylight to make sure the gradation was going to be perfect before I began making it.  I couldn't have been any more excited and happy at how it turned out!  It makes me want to drool!

I kept the quilting super simple by stitching around the bird and adding lines radiating out.  I wasn't going to take a chance ruining the bird with unnecessary quilting!

I made this mini for my Mom who loves hummingbirds!  She loves to watch hummers, and now she has one that isn't going south for the winter!

As promised in my previous post:  Rubber Ducky, I made a couple mini rubber duckies!  You knew I would! 

RUBBER DUCKY MINIS
5" x 5"

  I took the existing pattern and reduced it by 50%, so what was a 10" block became a 5" block.  The hardest most tedious part were the eyes!  Yikes!  Even on the large duck the eye was difficult!



The first one I made was this little black duck.  He kind of reminds me of a Loon from Minnesota!  I don't have a lot of prints that are black, so when I saw Sprinkles from 
Cotton + Steel I knew it would be perfect!

He's a blue eyed handsome little guy!  Simple quilting and finished with a binding of black!



Why make one when you can make two!  I choose a lime green print for the body and if you look super close at the wing you can see monkeys!  



When it came time to piece the eye I had a brilliant idea!  Why not use a dot from the 'Sprinkles' fabric for the eye?!  So, I did and he now has a glint in his eye!   If I ever make another one you can be sure it will get the same eye treatment!



From the back you can see how I quilted them.  Keeping it simple was the key!



And for now my fine feathered friends are hunkering down for the winter!

Do you have a bucket list?  Are you able to cross things off on your list?

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Block Printing :: Sweet Surprise!

It's been a weeks worth of projects that scream 'gotta get it done', which has left me with no time to blog at all!  Happily I've completed the ones that were a top priority on my list.

Months ago I designed a paper pieced block using EQ8 and recently revisited the design to see if it was something that was worth pursuing.  I tweaked the design a few times, played with layouts and the real fun part is always the color!  It's one thing to design and entirely another thing to execute!  I am never quite sure my ideas will work until I dig in and give it a try...so I did!

BLOCK PRINT
24" x 24"

When I plugged in the grey and red in EQ8, I knew immediately those were the colors I had to use.  I was struck how vibrant they came across on the computer screen and could only hope it would translate in real life.



I didn't realize I had so many different shades of red!  In the end I settled on Kona Rich Red and Kona Steel.  After printing the 6" templates I marked the sections that were going to be the red fabric.  It helps to avoid confusion and frustration while piecing!  

Another thing I like to do when paper piecing, and especially if I'm doing a lot of the same block, is to calculate the size of fabric pieces needed for each section.  That way I can cut what I need and basically 'grab and go' knowing I won't have to worry if the piece is the right size every time.  

 

It wasn't until all my blocks were finished, trimmed and laid out that I discovered the design looked like a block print.  At least to me it does.  I find it funny how you can look at a design all day long and not see the obvious!  




I didn't have to worry about how I would quilt this one!  It was as obvious as the nose on my face!  However, with being a non planner when quilting there are always moments when you paint yourself into a corner and have to figure out how to make it work!  



The majority of the quilting is with Aurifil 50wt Light Blue Grey #2610 and hints of Lobster Red #2265 accents.  Because it was a small quilt I had very little trouble maneuvering the quilt while quilting.  It was actually fun and I don't say that too often about machine quilting!



You most likely notice the red sections on the back!  I couldn't call it complete without a pieced binding.  It seemed like the perfect way to cap off the design!



And with that, this design is a wrap!  Or is it?!  Maybe there is a 'Block Print' series in the works, or maybe not!  Ideas are endless, time is not!  Sometimes I want to lock myself in my room and spend the entire day working on ideas!

It's been a productive couple of weeks!  I finished this quilt, I finished my Secret Santa gift (soon to be revealed), I put up my Christmas tree (three weeks earlier than usual), I made two mini Rubber Duckies which I hope to quilt today and I'm ready to make another quilt which is not too surprising!

Around this time every year it seems like I'm in a rush to finish projects.  Old or new, holiday themed, gifts or scraps to assemble.  In a way it's refreshing and rewarding because I know exactly what I have to do and I can check it off my list.  By the New Year I'm ready with fresh ideas and a clean slate!

I CANNOT BELIEVE ITS DECEMBER...just sayin'!

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Rubber Ducky :: You're The One! (or Two)

Rubber Ducky you're the one

You make bath time lots of fun

Rubber Ducky I'm awfully fond of you

(Sesame Street)

Rubber Ducky's are just plain adorable, that I think we can all agree on!  I first saw the paper pieced pattern on Instagram and then was lucky enough to win a copy from Zephyr Skies.  The pattern is available here on Craftsy: Rubber Ducky in case you are interested.

RUBBER DUCKY
17 1/2" x 12 1/2"

I couldn't wait to make the block, yet I had no idea when it would happen.  I'm kind of at that point where I just wanna play with quilting.  You know, make a few small things, try out new patterns or blocks, but I'm not ready to start something big.  So, I played.



I decided to make two ducks, one facing right and one facing left.  Picking the fabric was a mind chore!  There are so many possibilities, but I eventually settled on some lovely 
Cotton + Steel Basics and Moda Grunge.  



Adorable, right?!  The metallic in the Cotton + Steel fabric is what really tipped me over the edge.  A little bling is never a bad thing!



Toy Boat XOXO Metallic for Righty and...



Netorious Mixing Bowl Metallic for Lefty!

Both blocks went together seamlessly.  I did grab my seam ripper a few times, there is no doubt about it!  Working with solids it isn't a problem which side is right or wrong, but those darn prints...I gotta think harder!



After the ducks were finished and happily quacking away, I had to figure out the layout.  Call me crazy, but the idea of bubbles floating in the center was gnawing at me.  In the end I decided tiny hearts would be just as cute...cuter...unexpected?!  

I ended up making three paper pieced heart blocks: 1 1/2", 1" and 3/4", using three shades of pink. 

 

I offset each heart and centered them in the middle literally using every last piece of the background fabric!  Whew!  I was a bit worried towards the end!



Quilting time!  I made a 'duck sandwich' and began thinking of design possibilities.  



I quilted the wings and around each duck before I tackled the background.  I was having a horrible time free motion quilting!  The thread kept bunching up on the back.  I changed needles, reset the bobbin case and re-threaded over and over and over.  Eventually the problem was solved and I was able to finish it with a loop design.



The Rubber Ducky block is 10" and available here:  Rubber Ducky Pattern

It was such a fun project!  I'll most certainly will make more one day.  Call me crazy again... but I want to reduce the pattern and make a mini mini...you'll see...it's gonna happen! 

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Regatta :: Setting Sail

Once again it's the time of year where I love to dive into the scrap pile!  It's no surprise that I like to keep bits and pieces from previous projects that eventually become a brand new design concepts.  Most of the time I'll make several projects out of one until every remnant is used.  But there are times when I set aside a bounty of pieces and wait for the right mood to come along.  Like this time when it was either use them or part ways.

By the end of the year I always get the itch to stitch random piles of fabric pieces.  It makes me feel good for one thing, but it also makes me feel like I'm getting a fresh start for the new year!  Winter cleaning!

REGATTA
20" x 17"

The beginning was much like most of my quilting, sew pieces together and figure it out as you go.  Maybe it'll work, maybe not.  It didn't matter either way to me and I firmly planted the notion in my mind that if it didn't work out it was no big deal.  

It didn't take long before the vision, the idea, the light bulb moment!  I saw a fleet of tiny sails floating across the midnight sea coming to life!  Regatta was christened!  Unfortunately not with champagne this time!



These pieces have been tucked away in the closet for nearly two years!  In fact, I never shared the quilt made with this fabric!  I should do that!

My daughter Britt, hand dyed a bundle of fabric for me years ago.  I waited until the right project came along before I cut into it, and from that came these scraps.  Tiny snippets that formed the triangles or sails.  All sizes, shapes and colors.  



I have to say I'm in love with that minuscule triangle!  The background fabric is Kona Nightfall and turned out to be the perfect midnight sailing background.  



You know what I'm going to say next.  I don't know how to quilt it!  But again I figured something would come to me and so it did.  



Random widths of organic spikes.  How sure was I?  One thing I rarely am is sure about quilting!  Which color of thread, what design, precise or organic?  All questions that land in my mind every single time.  



I started with one color of thread and figured I could add other colors later if it seemed right.  I used Aurifil Dark Cobalt (2740), Spring Green (1231) and Bright Turquoise (5005).  I ended up adding the accent spikes using matchstick quilting.  Something different and bold.  Good or bad it's set in stone now!



You can see the quilting on the front, but there's nothing like the back to show off the design and colors of quilting.  A rather fun touch and unexpected twist that I love to add on occasion!



I still have a few more scrap piles that I would love to clear out of my closet.  It'll happen in between the holidays, painting and daily life I'm sure!  

I also have a Secret Santa gift to make in the next couple of weeks and it isn't going well at all!  I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas and settling on a plan of attack!

Probably a good many of us have gift projects we need to start and finish!  What is on your project list this time of the year?!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING ●  LINKY TUESDAY 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD  ● TGIFF 

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY