New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop

Hello friends and welcome to my stop on the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop! I am happy to be among new friends as we discover a new wave of awesome quilt bloggers/blogs. Mine is not as new as some, but I wanted to take part and learn some new ways to have a more successful and rewarding blog experience. 

A little about me - I'm Francine - an American expat living in Germany with my pilot hubby and younger 2 of 4 kiddos. We have a couple of years left here and have absolutely loved the experience! When I think of some of the historic places I've visited in the US, Europe makes them seem brand new! In my pre-Germany life, I was a soccer coach and then teacher, but these days I get to spend my time exploring, meeting new friends, sharing a cocktail, and sewing - lucky girl!

The last week or so I've had a couple of finishes which is unusual. Considering how little German homework I've gotten done, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised heh heh.

First, I finished an improv rainbow quilt. This was started as a sample for an improv class I'll be teaching later this year. In fact, you are welcome to join me at Peaks! It's a long weekend full of fun, pampering, relaxation, gourmet meals, amazing scenery and oh yeah - quilting!

Confetti Stars Rainbow

Next up is a quilt that has taken at least 4 years to put together! It is made up of blocks from several Flickr bees. I would've finished much sooner if it wasn't so much fun to choose color schemes. As a result, I ended up after 5 or 6 rounds with 3 separate stacks of blocks in very different colors lol. It's all ready for quilting now.

I have a blogging tip to share with you! This week I discovered a great YouTube video for adding the cute string of social media icons to your blog. First, check out this resource for cute social media icons and then then visit Blogaholic Designs for super easy instructions to add them to your blog! They also have several other helpful tutorials and videos to check out.

I also have a quilting tip/naughty confession. I am ashamed/proud to admit that I use my husband to practice new things. I lovingly made him a practice apron last year and then made this for myself.

reversible apron

Today I decided to try the 1 Hour Basket from Hearts and Bees. Naturally and selflessly, I made the hubs one for his bedside table first. Isn't it cute? Tomorrow I"ll make one for me.

Do you have any quilty naughty confessions?

I do hope you'll visit my hive mates this week! 

Jayne of Twiggy and Opal 

Robyn of Hoops & Thimbles

Shayna of Wife. Mom Creator

Francine

Stash Bee - my fave finish

Just last week, I had another exciting finish: my Stash Bee quilt. In July of 2014, I sent out instructions and a sample palette for a Wonky Pinwheel block (inspired by Greenleaf Goods) to 12 lovely ladies. Over the course of the next several months, the blocks came rolling in.

In early October, I got the blocks sewn into a top and was very pleased with what I was seeing.

Sometimes my bee mates included fabrics that I wouldn't always have necessarily chosen, but they all work together! I even have a couple that are closer to silk than cotton and they give a nice little surprise feel when you come across them. That's what made this project so fun - other perspectives make this quilt far more interesting.    

The gold and grey floral adds a silky surprise

In an effort to force myself to get this one finished, I put it on my Q1 list and it worked! 

 The back was a bit of an experiment. As I fancy myself addicted to paper piecing lately, I decided to play around a little. I used this letter set from Craftsy to make myself a label.

 The back is half Kona ash and half Kona white and just love how it came together around the letters and the binding is Kona navy. You can see that the quilting is a simple diagonal and a double straight gridline.

Ready for naptime! 

fmt

linking up On the windy side

WIP Weds ~ final bee blocks

Hello there! I am so happy to have finished up the last of my bee block commitments for awhile. A long while. A long, long, while.

First up, my hive in Stash Bee is completed this month. Our final queen bee asked for crazy quilt blocks in pastel/muted colors for her daughter's quilt. I raided my stash bin and (hopefully) found some fun fabrics for her. I also found a few novelty charms that fit the color scheme. Sara asked for an approximately 16" untrimmed block.

I can't wait to see her finished quilt! I was worried that my choices might be a little bright, so hopefully she can find something useful in this pile of accompanying scraps.

Finally, I'm participating in a Christmas block swap with a group from FB. We are using the You are Here Tute by Happy Zombie.

The finished block looks cool but it's pretty time consuming with the combination of HST, stitch & flip and flying geese blocks. Matching points are a challenge as is getting it to the correct size! I think the technical term for it is "fiddly" and there is lots of creative pressing going on around here. The other term for it is PITA, but I finished all 8 blocks.

I used Joy and Flurry charm packs  from Kate Spain. Seeing them laid out together makes me happy, but not motivated to ever make this particular block again, so I'll have to sash the heck out of the blocks I receive to get a throw sized quilt.

Now I'm working on my IGMini for the last swap of the year. The design is inspired by Lady Harvatine's log pyramid quilt. She hosted a quilt along last year and I really like her color choices!

The plan

The progress

linking up

WIP Weds

WOW ~ WIP Weds &

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts

FMT

Q4 - the 2014 Final List!

Hello again!

I'm pushing up against the deadline for posting my 4th quarter list! I've been so inspired by everyone's accomplishments this year and it's definitely fueled my motivation to  work on my own projects.

1. Finish Garden Party quilt

This one just needs the quilting finished and binding - finally!

2. Downstairs family room cushions

Given the amount of time they will spend on the floor, this will be a simple pattern for extra large cushions.

3. Supernova Friendship Quilt

My partner and I have completed our blocks and I'm anxious to see this one come together.

4. Wonky Pinwheel Quilt

This Stash Bee quilt is just waiting to be quilted and snuggled with on the couch.

5. I'm participating in the IG Mini Quilt Swap hosted by Curly Boy and the deadline is looming!

I figured out my palette and pattern and have been experimenting with my block idea. Just need to shrink it down and get it done.

6. Field of Iris quilt

I have been toying with patterns for this bundle for a very long time! I'd love to get this one finished this quarter. I'm thinking of this by Quilt Dad or a big plus pattern. I also love this one.

7. Catvent Knitting Bag

This will be a scrappy Christmas gift for a special friend.

8. Noodlehead Divided basket

I'm tired of listing this one, but I won't be defeated! Also, must stop using the interfacing for other projects and get it done!

wish me luck?
FMT

Wonky Pinwheels ~ a Stash Bee finish

Hi friends! I'm writing from sunny Switzerland in the beautiful Alps! I'm fresh from a weekend at the 6th biannual quilting retreat Patchwork in the Peaks. What a great time! I'll share more about that later ;).
I'm writing this post using the Blogsy app for iPad and it has eaten the whole thing twice - grr.

I'm participating in Stash Bee for the first time this year and July was my month to choose a block.
I chose a block called Wonky Pinwheels and provided some notes, but didn't realize until much later that I sewed it together wrong. Oops! It wouldn't have been so bad, but most of my bee mates dutifully followed my wrong lead and did the same thing lol. The first column goes at the far right, so I just moved that column over as bee blocks arrived - no biggie. The blocks finish at 16".

Just before last weekend, I had a chance to put my blocks together, and I'm excited about the top! I think I'll need a border or 2 to get it up to a good family room throw size and I'm contemplating quilting designs.

With the columns fixed, the blocks fit together the right way. My bee mates used green, navy, grey and gold shades on a grey or white background. I must confess: I'm not the biggest fan of scrappy, but this one is looking great.

Ciao for now - family is forcing me to hike- noooooooooo
Fmt

Posted with Blogsy

Catching up as usual

Geez! I don't know where I've been, but I feel like I've been sewing a-lot with nothing to show for it!

It's too bad there are no stats for how much time a person spends on Pinterest planning their next quilt, cause I have a feeling it would answer some questions.

Anyway, I had a finish a bit ago that I forgot to share. On my Q3 Finish Along list there is an apron. My genius girlfriend/soon-to-be-mommy then (and new mommy now - yay!) came up with a plan for us and we set off. We both chose fabrics from my stash and I'm puzzled as to how she came up with such a classy look and mine looks like a crayon box.  

FAL Q3 list

When we finished, we had the bright idea to let my husband snap our pic. Normally he takes a LONG time to get the perfect shot and we all end up annoyed and trying hard to smile so we gave him a good warning. His revenge? He quickly clicked 5 times and walked away. I guess I could be angry that he cut our heads off on most of the pictures, but I didn't actually comb my hair that day, so maybe he did us a favor. 

Luckily Beans came to the rescue a few days later and was happy to do some backyard modeling. I may have to recreate this sucker in her size cause she really loves it! 

I used two different main prints per side and did pockets in a bright fuchsia and the belt was the same for both sides.

Marking this one off my list! 

Also got my September and October blocks finished for the Supernova Swap! I just need to make 2 more for myself to get a total of 12 blocks and I can put it together. I'm so excited!

I also knocked out September Stash Bee blocks for Samantha today. She asked for flying geese in this dark red, gold, olive palette in any shape. So quick & fun,

Catch ya later
FMT