Celtic Solstice, Part 4 Completed

Posted on April 16, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I’m continuing to make slow but steady progress on my Celtic Solstice. This is a mystery quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter during the last part of 2013. I’m way behind many quilters who have already completed and quilted their beautiful finishes. The pattern is still available until about June on Bonnie’s website if you want to make your own Celtic Solstice.

You can read about my Celtic Solstice Part 3 units here.

For step 4, our task was to make 4-patches. I’m making the smaller quilt so I needed to make 100 of these units. I’m using Bonnie’s suggested color scheme of oranges, greens, yellows, blues, and neutrals.

Once I had completed all the 4-patches, I couldn’t resist making one Block A: 54-40 or Fight!

This picture shows 1 block A, the 4-patches on the floor, and units from parts 1-3 in the basket.

Celtic Solstice 4-Patches

My block isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with it! Now, on to step 5!

I really need to finish this quilt because I’m attending one of Bonnie’s workshops in June, and I’d love to be able to show it to her. Wish me luck!

Happy piecing,
~Jennifer

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

Reach for the Stars Quilt, Blocks 1-3

Posted on April 8, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

This year, I made myself a goal to improve my piecing skills. To achieve that goal, I’m participating in various online BOMs as well as working on the Reach for the Stars quilt. You can read about my start on this quilt as well as all my fabric selections here.

I’m using the delicious Sunnyside line by Kate Spain for Moda, along with several solids thrown into the mix.

I finished up part 2 of 7 this weekend, which included blocks 1-3. I really wanted to get an outdoors photo to show off the fabrics better, but couldn’t squeeze it in before work on Monday.

Here are close-up photos of blocks 1-3. You can click each picture to zoom in on the block.

Reach for the Stars, Block 1

Reach for the Stars, Block 2

Reach for the Stars, Block 3

These blocks will be placed on the top of the quilt, above the center medallion:

Reach for the Stars, Blocks 1-3 with Center Medallion

It was challenging to find a floor space big enough for a photo. I stood on a little chair to get high enough, and I’m really surprised that one of my quilt inspectors didn’t come to “rearrange” the blocks, lol!

Since this project stretches over a year or so, I decided to create a little fabric swatch card/cheat sheet.

Fabric Swatch Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet really helped me keep all my fabric placements correct for each block. In the past, I just had my chicken scratches on a piece of paper. I could just see myself confusing dark 2 with dark 3 or light tan with medium 1 if I didn’t have the little fabric swatches.

I cut out all the pieces for blocks 1-3 at the same time and kept them in individual groups with labels:

Cut Fabric Groups

Now, if only I could be this organized with all my quilty projects!

I hope you enjoyed seeing photos of this evolving quilt. I still need to “catch up” on parts 3 and 4, which are already published in the magazine.

Happy quilting,
Jen

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

A Snack Time Quilt Finish!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone!

Last March, I took a class with Julie of Jaybird Quilts. She had finished up her Snack Time pattern, and I was able to purchase a copy of the pattern from the wonderful Quiltmaker booth of goodies outside the classroom area.

I started working on piecing the top sometime last summer and finished it during the fall. Then, other projects popped up, and I never finished the quilting!

This weekend, I finally finished my Snack Time and took some photos of my completed quilt at my sister’s beautiful cabin in the woods!

I used a Bali Pop (2.5″ pre-cut strips) from Hoffman Fabrics in Rum Raisin. I really loved the look of the purples and greens together. For the background, I went with Kona white, which really makes those batiks pop!! The piecing and quilting is with white Aurifil thread.

Here are some pics of the quilt front:

Snack Time at Cabin

Snack Time Close-Up

For the backing, I went with Kona cotton in Lupine with some left-over Snack time blocks, Kona white, and a label.

Snack Time Back

Naturally, this quilt had to be inspected professionally and so Miss Gracie gave us her paw of approval!

Miss Gracie

I still have the original quilt top from that class, Boxed In, to finish. I’ll get it done eventually!

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Toes in the Sand BOM, Blocks 11 and 12

Posted on March 30, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I’ve been participating in the Toes in the Sand BOM by Julie of Jaybird Quilts over the past year, and I’m happy to say that I’ve finished the last 2 sets of blocks! I signed up for this BOM with the Fat Quarter Shop and just loved receiving that package in the mail each month.

The block for month 11 is La Jolla Cove. I love the dark blues in this block!

La Jolla Cove Block

The final block for month 12 is Big Sur. This one has plenty of fun hexagon shapes.

Big Sur Block

Now that I have all the blocks completed, I need to work on the setting triangles and assemble the quilt top.

But first, I really need to finish my Celtic Solstice Mystery top. I’ve signed up to take a class with Bonnie in June so I need to hurry – yikes!

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Vice Versa BOM: March Blocks

Posted on March 24, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I did both some hiking and some sewing this weekend to kick off spring break here in Oregon!

I finished up my 2 March blocks for the Vice Versa BOM, hosted by AnneMarie over at GenXQuilters. We made the bear paw block this month, which is one of my all-time favorite blocks.

Here’s at look at the regular block and the inverse block:

Vice Versa BOM – March Blocks

You can read about my fabric selections in my first Vice Versa post here.

We’ve made 3 months worth of blocks, and I love taking pictures of them together. The colors are so springy and make me happy!

3 Months of Vice Versa BOM

I’m working on pictures from our scenic hike over the weekend so stay tuned!

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

NW Quilted Cat

Longarm Quilting, Patterns, Foundation Paper Piecing Teacher

Category Archives: Quilts

Celtic Solstice, Part 4 Completed

Triangle QAL, Rows Joined!

Triangle QAL Rows

Aurifl BOM – April’s Block

Triangle QAL + Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe Win!

A Snack Time Quilt Finish!

Toes in the Sand BOM, Blocks 11 and 12

Vice Versa BOM: March Blocks

Triangle QAL Fabrics!