work in progress wednesday

As much of the quilting world prepares for Quilt Market, urgently pushing to complete those finishing touches on booths, accessories, new bags, business cards, etc., I share that energy as I try to get a few last projects from my work in progress pile into the “finished” pile. My deadline is not the impending Market, however. I am entering the final week(s) before having a baby. Amazingly, I’m feeling pretty hopeful that I will be able to complete the quilting projects that need to be finished before baby arrives (let’s not even talk about the projects around the house, though–priorities, right?), and I’m trying hard not to take on more projects in the meantime.

Two of the big quilting projects are no strangers to you loyal readers, so prepare yourselves for yet another look at the Pinkalicious Hazel Hedgehog baby quilt I’m working on for my sister-in-law, and the Alison Glass Prismatic Medallion mini quilt I’m finishing up for my partner in the Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram.

Thankfully, I’m on the final binding phase for the Prismatic Medallion mini quilt. I’m binding it with my new favorite: Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen blend in Charcoal, with coordinating 50wt Aurifil 1246 – Grey. I used straight-grain binding and next time will use bias binding, since I’m finding that the backs of the corners are a bit off kilter. Since the front corners line up perfectly and look nice and crisp, I’m not worrying about it, but I’m still searching for that secret tip to making perfect corners on the front and back when binding a hexagon. I’m in the process of setting up a skype date with Carla from Granny Maud’s Girl way over in Perth, Australia, since she says she knows the secret to binding hexagons–how awesome is this technological world and the quilting community within it!?

I’m hoping to have a mini finish to share soon!

I also need to finish quilting Hazel. I ordered the coordinating Aurifil from Hawthorne Threads, and now that it’s here, that can go back into my project circulation. I’m planning to do simple outline echo quilting on Hazel’s face and body with Aurifil 2423 – Baby Pink, since it is just a *little* bit pinker than her face and will add the texture without detracting from her features. The lighter pink color will be a fun addition to her bright pink legs and body. I ordered 40wt this time, since I love the added thickness that helps the quilting pop.

I’ve decided to try my very first matchstick quilting in the heart, since it’s a small enough space I don’t think it will be too crazy to complete before baby. Plus, I am going to try to quilt the baby’s name–Reagan–into the heart via negative space. For this, I’m going to use Freezer Paper for the very first time! I bought a big roll over a year ago when my late quilting Grammy said that it was an absolute must for paper piecing. I’ve never used it for paper piecing since I strongly prefer the foundation paper method, but I’m hoping to cut out freezer paper letters spelling Reagan, iron them onto the heart, and then matchstick quilt within the heart, but NOT on the letters. Is that as clear as mud? I promise I’ll take photos of the process, and fingers crossed that it works the way I envision!

I ordered my very first spool of variegated thread for the heart matchstick quilting, and I think the color is perfect–it’s Bubblegum variegated 3660! I ordered 50wt this time and very well might keep my panacea Dove thread color in the bobbin since with matchstick quilting, I’m afraid of running out of thread before I’m finished.

I also have another project, a pattern I’m developing, which I’m trying to finish before baby comes. For now, I can’t show you much, and the progress is not nearly as close to complete as these first two projects. Getting Hazel and the Prismatic Medallion into the finished pile will certainly help me focus on the new pattern, though, so little steps it is!

Finally, I thought I’d share my last and greatest work in progress, heading to the “finished” pile at an unknown impending date.

Here I am between 38 and 39 weeks pregnant with my third baby, a boy. He’s still in progress, but should be joining us on the outside world (aka finished cooking) in the coming weeks. Makers gotta make!

I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced’s Work in Progress Wednesday, and Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash, since I added some more Aurifil thread to my stash to finish these projects.

Today is one of those days where I feel like I have a million things “in progress”. I promise I won’t spill my entire brain’s to-do list for you (that would be messy), but here are some of the top projects I have in progress at the moment:

Late Night Quilters Club Facebook Group

LNQC-cover-4 — This awesome LNQC banner was created by my talented brother Steven.

About a week ago, my new quilting friend Stephanie and her local quilter friend Michelle and I decided to launch a new Facebook community for fellow late night quilters, since we were getting so much out of our own nightly conversations. It started as a page, but the interest and content was so fabulous after only a day, that when new members requested that we make it a private group, we knew it was the right path. This way, it allows for easier communication and better sharing of pictures and ideas. Facebook “pages” aren’t as conducive to posts by many different people in a community as “groups” are. So we made the change, and the group is hoppin’!

We want you to join us there. Your posts will be front and center so you can get lots of feedback from fellow quilters. You can network, ask questions, share advice, share your own works in progress, or even just be a wallflower looking for inspiration.

How is this a work in progress, you may ask? Well, we have a lot of great ideas still in the works, including the creation of a button you can include on your blog, creating a weekly fabric swap so that you can buy, sell, and trade fabric on the page, and more! If you’re on Facebook, would you please give us a little love and take a second to join the group (Steph, Michelle and I are accepting requests as fast as we can), share it with your quilting friends, and perhaps post some of your projects? We’d all love to see what YOU’re working on!

Supernova Friendship Block Swap: Block 1

I have completed my first block for the Supernova Friendship Block Swap, and I love it! I still need to make a duplicate for myself, but I figured I may as well stay ahead and start writing my first letter to my partner Laura. The aspect of the swap that really drew me in at the start is the friendship-making in the process. Each month, I will send not only an awesome 18″ supernova quilt block to Laura, but I’ll also write her a letter about myself. I’ve decided to type most of the letters since I have an awesome typewriter and may as well use it.

Besides, how awesome would it be to receive a typed letter in the mail?! I hope Laura agrees.

I think that the swap is partially supposed to be a surprise each month, and I’ve already blown the surprise this month anyway with my tweeting and Instagramming, so I figure a semi-secretive peek at my block is okay. In future months, I promise to only post pictures AFTER Laura has received her blocks! This is going to be fun!

Scrappy Play

My final work in progress has been a fun little “extra”. My Star Crazy quilt is the first pattern I’ve used that results in many, somewhat large, already cool-looking scraps. I have been having a lot of fun playing around with different possibilities for the scraps.

I think I have decided to make them into a set of place mats, but I think I will wait until the quilt is finished to make sure I have enough pieces to make a sufficient number of coordinating place mats. The alternative, of course is to use them on the back of the quilt. Either way, it has been fun discovering all of the wonderful arrangements possible with half-square triangles (HST).