Triangle QAL, Rows Joined!

Posted on April 13, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I stitched my rows together this morning for the Triangle QAL, hosted by Paula over on her blog, Sassy Quilter!

The rows on my manly, beer-themed quilt went together fairly quickly. As I was trimming off the zig-zag edges along the side, my hubby walked in and saw the quilt top. Ooops! I just told him to act surprised when I give it to him once the quilting and binding are completed.

So off my hubby went to Home Depot while my son and I decided to take the quilt flimsy to a local park and get some pictures of it. The sun is shining and the leaves and flowers are bursting open in early spring.

One problem – the wind didn’t want to play along! (Or maybe it was playing along and just being frisky).

Here are some poses we tried to catch while the wind played with us:

Triangle QAL Flimsy on Rocks – Too Windy!

Triangle QAL Near Giant Bear Statue? Still Too Windy!

Triangle QAL Quilt Top on Play Structure? Almost!

Finally, I decided to place the quilt flimsy on the sidewalk and take a picture of it while standing on a bench, in between wind gusts.

Triangle QAL Quilt Top!

I want to think up a clever, beer-themed name for this quilt, but I haven’t thought of anything good. Do you have ideas?

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Triangle QAL Rows

Posted on April 9, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I made progress this week on my Triangle QAL by stitching together the triangles to form rows!

You can still join in on the Triangle QAL by checking out Paula’s blog, The Sassy Quilter.

I’m using the Brewsky line by Clothworks along with 3 Kona cotton solids. You can read about my fabric selections here.

The 12 rows of this quilt took up my entire design wall. It will shrink down a bit when I sew the rows together during next week’s assignment, and I think the finished size will be the perfect beer-themed quilt for my wonderful hubby.

I’m trying to make this as a surprise, but I’m pretty sure that he knows something is up when I told him don’t go into the playroom! My sewing room (a spare bedroom) is too small for a design wall and cutting table so I’ve taken over a corner of the all-purpose playroom.

Here’s a look at the rows on the design wall:

Triangle QAL – Completed Rows

Some of the prints are directional so I had to be careful to keep those triangles pointing in the correct direction!

Directional Triangles

Oddly enough, this quilt continues to be a project that holds very little interest to my feline quilt inspectors. My dog has been my quilting buddy on this project instead!

At first, I wasn’t too sure about the bold red, but I did match it to the reds in the print fabric using my Kona color chart. The red is growing on me, and I think it adds interest while still keeping in line with a “manly” themed quilt.

Enjoy the triangles!
~Jennifer

Aurifl BOM – April’s Block

Posted on April 6, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

It looks like spring might have finally arrived here in Oregon! We expect sunshine and about 70 degrees tomorrow. I had a very sewful weekend, having spent about 5 hours each day on various quilting projects. I have so many going at once!

First up is the Aurifil BOM for April. This block is a fun take on the classic bear’s paw, designed by Angela Yosten. She has added a nice hand-embroidered touch to the block with stitches running around the inside of the bear paw. I am undecided if I should add this accent or not. I may wait until I get all the Aurifil BOM blocks completed to decide.

I’m using Kona cotton in Shadow for my neutral across the BOM. The other colors are various coordinating reds, blacks, and whites from my stash.

Here’s a look at my Aurifil BOM April block:

Aurifil BOM – April Block

And here are my first 4 blocks together:

Aurifil BOM – First 4 Blocks

I finished sewing about half of my rows together for the Triangle QAL. I hope to have these finished by Thursday in time for the latest photo linkup.

Finally, I worked on several more blocks for the Reach for the Stars quilt. I have 1 more block to finish for step 2 and I’ll show some pictures of my progress.

Hope you have a great week!
~Jennifer

Triangle QAL + Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe Win!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Greetings quilty friends!

The assignment this week for the Triangle QAL hosted by Paula over at Sassy Quilter is to cut out all our triangle shapes!

I’m using 7 fabrics from Clothworks Brewsky line along with 3 Kona cotton solids. I think this line is now out-of-print, but you may still be able to find a few pieces if you search for it. This will be a fun beer-themed quilt project for my hubby!

Here are the pieces stacked together, looking rather like a slice of fabric pie!

Triangle QAL Fabric Pie

And here are all 204 triangles!

204 Triangles

Next Friday, we’ll begin piecing all these wonderful 60 degree triangles together.

Last week while at my sister’s house, I learned that I had won an April Showers by Moda charm pack from one of my favorite local quilt shops, Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe. I highly recommend a visit to this quilt store if you visit the Portland area. Hollyhill has a sister store across the street called Boughs of Holly, featuring wonderful Christmas and holiday themed fabrics year-round!

Here’s a picture of me in Hollyhill with the charm pack. I should have taken off my brown winter coat!

April Showers Charm Pack at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe

This is the first time that I’ve won something at a quilt shop so I’m very happy and thank the wonderful folks at Hollyhill.

Until next time, happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Triangle QAL Fabrics!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

The sun is shining here this afternoon, just in time for me to take a picture of the fabrics that I have selected to use in a new quilt-along. Yes, I just finished up my Star Light Star Bright QAL top, and I’ve decided to jump aboard Paula’s fun triangle QAL over on her blog, Sassy Quilter.

I’m really excited to do this QAL since this will be my first, all triangle quilt top!

There are so many luscious fabric lines on the market today to choose from that I really couldn’t decide. Instead, I decided to go with something a little strange, a little hip, and a whole lot Portland! This one is for my hubby who loves beer and really enjoys sampling all the local micro brews.

The patterned fabrics are from Clothworks Brewsky line, which I think may now be out of print. I actually picked up most of these fabrics last year while doing a quilt shop hop, but didn’t have a specific project in mind. I’m throwing in a few coordinating Kona cotton solids to round out my selections.

Here are the fabrics, all bundled up in this little basket:

Brewsky Fabric

And since my cat inspectors are too sophisticated to have their photos taken next to beer fabric, my dog stepped up to the plate. And really, doesn’t the dog and beer kinda tie for the role of “man’s best friend??”

Yep, Ma, It’s Beer Fabric! Woof!

I hope you’ll mosey on over to Paula’s blog and join us for this QAL. Next Friday, she’ll post the cutting directions.

Have a great weekend!
~Jennifer

Star Light Star Bright QAL Top Completed!

Posted on March 17, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Good evening, everyone!

I finished up my quilt top for the Star Light Star Bright QAL hosted by Melissa over at Happy Quilting. A big thanks goes to Melissa for designing such a fun project and her generosity in sharing the pattern with us, week by week!

Although some of my points are not perfect, I continue to improve my piecing skills by working on quilt-alongs and BOMs. These timed projects give me a definite goal, and I love quilting alongside people from all over the world.

To see a complete list of my fabric selections, you can read my original SLSB QAL post. I pieced the top using Aurifil thread, #2000.

My husband assisted with some outdoor photography as we tried to catch the quilt in the fading evening light. I think these pictures don’t do the fabrics justice. You can see my pretty plum tree blooming in the background.

STSB QAL Quilt Top, Outside

SLSB QAL Quilt Top Outside with Cat Inspector

Then, I brought the quilt top indoors and placed in on the floor and took a couple more photos.

SLSB QAL Quilt Top, Indoors

SLSB QAL Quilt Top, Indoors with Cat Inspector

I hope to be able to quilt it and bind it in time for the grand parade of finishers. Right now, I’m leaning towards using one of the dark brown fabrics for the binding.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Star Light Star Bright QAL, Block Corners

Posted on March 9, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I finished up the block corners for the Star Light Star Bright quilt-along, hosted by Melissa over at Happy Quilting.

The quilt top is really starting to take shape! Next week, we’ll finish assembling the top.

One of my quilt inspectors fell asleep on the job! When I placed several block corners in his kitty bed, I got this startled expression:

Romeo gets startled by block corner units

Ha,ha, big kitty eyes!

Here’s a look at the block corner units with the other pieces:

Block Corner Units

Once the blocks are stitched together, I’ll rearrange the blocks before adding the sashing strips.

We’re having a brief break in the rain today so I’m going to enjoy while I can!

Enjoy,
~Jennifer

Star Light Star Bright QAL – Block Sides

Posted on March 1, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I finished sewing the block sides for the Star Light Star Bright QAL, hosted by Melissa at Happy Quilting.

The quilt is starting to take shape, and I certainly have some eye popping colors and fabrics! I’m hoping that once the blocks are completed and joined with the sashing that it won’t be too busy.

Here’s my Star Light Star Bright QAL with the block centers and block sides:

Star Light Star Bright QAL Block Sides

On Wednesday, we’ll get the instructions for building the block corners. I’m looking forward to it!

I managed to squeeze in some more time on my Celtic Solstice blocks as well. I’ve just about finished pressing the chevron blocks from step 2 so hope to finish tomorrow and post some pictures.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Star Light Star Bright QAL Block Centers

Posted on February 22, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

There was some sunshine streaming in through my sewing room this morning while I finished up my last three block centers for the Star Light Star Bright QAL hosted by Melissa.

My quilt inspector decided this bit of streaming sunshine was the perfect spot to nap, and he happily agreed to pose with one of the block centers:

Tiger with SLSB Block Center

Once I had stitched together the last of my blocks, I placed all nine blocks randomly on a design wall.

Here’s what my QAL looks like so far:

SLSB QAL Block Centers

There is still time to join this QAL so hop on over to Melissa’s blog and check it out!

If you want to know about my fabric selections for this QAL, I posted each fabric and line on my post here.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Star Light Star Bright QAL, Half Square Triangles

Posted on February 17, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Monday!

This weekend, I found time to work on my project for the Star Light Star Bright QAL hosted and designed by Melissa. There is still time to join the fun so pop on over to her blog to check out all the details!

Our assignment this week was to create our half square triangles. I’m making the 9-block baby size quilt so I had quite a few HST’s to sew and trim!

The sewing part went pretty fast as I chain-stitched each grouping. The important part of this step was to keep our groupings separate so we don’t confuse the half square triangles between groups. I labeled each group with a sticky note and only sewed one group at a time.

Next, we trimmed our little HST’s! This part makes me happy to sew all those perfectly square little blocks, but I definitely get a sore left forearm. I cut with my right hand, but seem to hold onto my squaring ruler pretty tightly with my left hand so that the fabric doesn’t wiggle. This seems to lead to soreness the next day when I do lots of trimming.

Here’s a look at my little mountain of trimmed edges:

HST Trimmings

I’ll use these trimmings to make more cat nip presents for my quilt inspectors.

Here’s a look at all my half square triangles, neatly trimmed. I have group 1 spread out on my cutting table next to groups 2 through 9.

Half Square Triangles for Star Light Star Bright QAL

And here’s a look at all my HST’s and flying geese bundled up together in a little tray:

Organizing Tray for Star Light Star Bright QAL

Stay tuned for next week’s post where I will show you my block centers for this QAL.

I also had the opportunity to attend a Downton Abbey tea party hosted by Andover Fabrics on Saturday. I even won a prize – eek! I’ll upload my photos from this wonderful event to an upcoming post so stay tuned!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer