Blogger’s Quilt Festival – Scrappy!!

Posted on October 27, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Monday, everyone!

For Blogger’s Quilt Festival, I just knew that I had to enter my Celtic Solstice into the scrappy category! The quilt festival is hosted by Amy over at Amy’s Creative Side.

Celtic Solstice is a mystery quilt designed by the queen of scrappy quilts, Bonnie Hunter. I participated in this mystery quilt last year. Although the free pattern is no longer available, Bonnie will include Celtic Solstice in a future book.

Quilt stats:

Started November 2013 and finished summer 2014.

Fabrics include: 7 oranges, 5 creams, 7 blues, and 9 yellows. Most pieces were from my stash, but I did pick up a few fat quarters here and there to add to the project.

I did a meandering quilt design using a domestic machine. Whew!

This was my first all scrappy quilt, and I think it turned out wonderfully!

Finished Celtic Solstice Quilt

Voting begins on November 1st so I can’t wait to check out all the beautiful quilts in the scrappy category and the other categories.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice Finished!

Posted on June 7, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Whew – what a binding marathon for me this week! I finished the quilting and binding on my Celtic Solstice mystery quilt just in time for Bonnie’s classes in Portland this coming week. This quilt is designed by Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville. As of June 1st, the pattern is no longer a freebie, but will included in a future publication.

For my quilt top, I kept to Bonnie’s suggested color palette of greens, oranges, yellows, and blues. The fabrics came from my stash with the exception of the green outer border and the blue backing.

I do have a couple of piecing boo-boos on this quilt top, but I’m really happy with how it turned out in the end. There are literally hundreds of individual fabric pieces comprising the blocks in this quilt!

The entire quilt is pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50 wt in Light Sand, #2000. The batting is Quilter’s Dream Poly in Mid Loft. I did free-motion quilting using a domestic machine.

Here is the quilt front with my little guy:

Ian standing in front of my finished Celtic Solstice quilt

The quilt front by itself:

Finished Celtic Solstice Quilt

I used a solid blue for the back and attached a label to the lower corner. The binding is the same green fabric as the outer border.

Back of Celtic Solstice

I’m so happy to have another quilt finished!

Happy quilting,
~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion Border 3 + Celtic Solstice (Almost Finished!)

Posted on June 4, 2014 by thequiltedcat

This week, I’ve been catching up on a few quilty projects in the evenings.

First up is border 3 on this amazing Aviatrix Medallion quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. Each border keeps adding to the awesomeness of this quilt! I have a few errors and piecing mishaps in this border, but overall I’m pretty happy with it and using it as a great skill builder.

Here’s the quilt top with border 3:

Aviatrix Medallion with Border 3

Next, I finished quilting my Celtic Solstice top. I used an all over meandering stitch using a domestic machine and Aurifil thread #2000. After quilting, I placed it on the floor to measure for my binding. My cat had to come inspect!

Romeo inspects my Celtic Solstice quilt (before binding)

Celtic Solstice is designed by Bonnie Hunter and was a free pattern until June 1st this year. Since we’re past that date, the quilt instructions will be included in one of her future publications. If you missed out on this one, she will offer the next free mystery on her blog this fall.

I’m now feverishly working on hand stitching the backside of the binding before getting to see Bonnie in person next week in Portland for a class! Woo hoo!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion, Border 1 + More

Posted on May 16, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Friday, everyone!

It’s been a busy quilty week for me, in between work and the kiddo’s school schedule. I’ve made great progress on my Celtic Solstice top and should have all the borders added this weekend!

I also made a great antique sewing machine find at a local thrift store. I’ll take some pictures of my find and blog about it this weekend. So excited!

For the Aviatrix Quilt-along, our assignment this week is to add border 1. This border went together so nicely and took much less time than the gorgeous center block. Go check out all the details on Elizabeth’s blog, Oh Fransson.

This border has 32 HST units in 5 different neutral colors. Although my medallion colors are different, I did stick with the original neutrals as listed in the pattern. I’m using Aurifil Light Sand (#2000) for all the piecing.

Here’s a bit of blurry phone picture of the neatly trimmed HST blocks:

Trimmed HST Units in Neutrals

Here’s my center block now framed with border 1:

Aviatrix Medallion with Border 1

I just love how this quilt is coming together! We’ll work on border 2 next week.

Finally, have you heard about the Supernova Friendship Block Swap? You can find all the details on Stephanie’s blog, Late Night Quilter. I posted in the comments about needing a partner and found one within hours. I’m happy to say that I’m partnering up with Cindy of What’s One More Project. We’ve selected Denyse Schmidt’s Ansonia fabric line for our quilt.

Here are the 2 colorways. I’ll be working with the greens and Cindy will be working with the pinks.

Ansonia Fat Quarters in Green

Ansonia Fat Quarters in Pink

There is still time to hop aboard this fun swap. You’ll meet a new friend and have fun making quilt tops together. The first blocks are due June 15th.

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Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice, Part 5

Posted on May 5, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Monday, quilty friends!

I finished up all the individual block units for my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt this past weekend by completing part 5, the split triangle units! This mystery quilt is designed by Bonnie Hunter and all the instructions for this quilt are available on her website until June 1, 2014. After that date, the instructions will be included in one of Bonnie’s future books.

Here are my completed split triangle units (100 of them) for the small quilt. I also stitched together 1 sample of each block that will form the body of the quilt: the Birthday Girl block (originally from Quiltmaker Magazine’s 100 Blocks, volume 2) and the 54-40 or Fight block.

Celtic Solstice, Part 5, Split Triangle Units

For this quilt, I’ve used scraps and pieces from my stash. I’m hoping that I have enough of the same fabrics left for the borders. The only fabric that I will probably need to purchase for this quilt is the backing, although maybe I can hobble something together using scraps. We’ll see!

I have about 1 month until I get to take 2 workshops with Bonnie! I really want to have the quilt top finished, at a minimum, so that I can take it to the workshop. This is my first large-size, all-scrappy quilt!!

In between sewing these split triangle units, I’ve been working on cutting out my fabrics for the Aviatrix Medallion quilt-along, designed and hosted by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson. I will post my fabric selections for this project soon.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice, Part 4 Completed

Posted on April 16, 2014 by thequiltedcat

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

Sewing Cabinet Find and Celtic Solstice, Part 2!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Monday, quilters!

I’ve been perusing the local Craigslist ad for months, just waiting for a sewing cabinet to replace the tiny table that I have been using. This weekend, a nice cabinet appeared in the listing with a 1980s-era Singer sewing machine.

The cabinet does have a few scratches and dings, but my Bernina (mostly) fits into the cut-out space. On my old little table, it just sat on top and didn’t fit flush with the table surface. As a bonus, it has 7 drawers!! My husband helped me pick up the machine and haul it up our stairs. Then, I spent a good chunk of Sunday organizing the space. That it still a work in progress!

Here are some pictures of the new-to-me sewing cabinet in my spare bedroom (aka my sewing studio).

Used Sewing Cabinet

A few small scratches on the sewing cabinet surface

Sewing Room, Right Side

Sewing Room, Left Side

Oh my, looking at those photos, I see that still need to organize some of my fabric that is on the floor!

I also worked a bit more on my Celtic Solstice quilt top. This is a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt from last fall, but I’m very behind many of the quilters who have already completed their tops! You can see my part one of this project here.

For part two, I needed to make 100 chevron units for the small-sized version of the quilt. Each chevron uses 6 pieces of fabric for a total of 600 pieces on this step! This was my first time making chevrons, and they went together pretty well by following Bonnie’s instructions.

Here they are after a press and trim:

Celtic Solstice Chevrons

I have added the chevrons to my units from part one, and they are living together in this little basket:

Celtic Solstice, Parts 1 and 2

I’ve started part three for this project, and I think it will go a bit faster than the chevron units. You can still get the instructions for free on Bonnie’s site until June!

Hope you enjoyed the look at my sewing space!

Happy quilting,
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice: A New Mystery Quilt!

Posted on October 27, 2013 by thequiltedcat

Bonnie Hunter’s latest mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice, is starting!! Her mystery quilts are great because she emphasizes using scraps and fabrics from your stash. She recently posted the colors for this year’s mystery based on Olympic paint cards from Lowe’s.

I picked up the paint cards this week. Here’s a slightly blurry pic showing Brilliant Blue (B52-6), Blarney Stone (B65-6), Bumble Bee (A13-6), and Orange Poppy (A23-6):

Celtic Solstice Colors

I haven’t participated in one of Bonnie’s mystery quilts yet, but have decided to do it this year. With the trusty paint cards in hand, I started pulling fabrics from my stash.

My quilty cat helper “assisted!” The cat kept wiggling so I only have this blurry photo to show:

Celtic Solstice Fabrics

I started pulling the neutrals which need to be whites and creams, but I don’t have many of these colors. I have white and cream solids, but need to pick up a few fat quarters with patterned whites and creams. I have enough blues, greens, yellows, and oranges in my scrap pile and stash, and I’m so excited to be able to use these in this project.

There is plenty of time to join the mystery since the first clue will go live on November 29th. You’ll also need to have several rulers on hand which Bonnie describes in her first posting on this mystery quilt.

You still have time to leave me a comment on my Pumpkin Patch Cat wall-hanging for the Wicked Blog Hop. I’ll draw a winner on Halloween from all comments received. Good luck!

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer