Tag Archives: Caterpillar Fizz

• 18 Comments

•

I have two more Very Hungry Caterpillar quilts to quilt and bind, but this one is done! It's even wrapped and ready to be gifted.

I've loved this fabric line since I first saw it before I had kids. I've used it numerous times. One of my current unfinished projects is a twin-sized quilt for my son. When I decided to make him a twin sized quilt, I was also at the point that I decided I was beginning to feel done with this fabric. (I've been using it over the past seven years.) So while I was making Fat Quarter Fizz blocks (free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop) for his quilt, I just kept making more. I ended up having enough blocks for an additional small lap quilt and this baby quilt. I even made a doll sized quilt with the leftover pieces when I ran out of blocks. I'm not actually out of the fabric, but this made a very large dent in my Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric stash.

I was inspired by Cynthia's quilting, and used these large spirals, which are rounded corner rectangles on the outside and become ovals in the center. Our motifs are a little different because my centers don't come to a point like hers do... this was just a result of not taking another look at my inspiration when I was actually sitting down to do the quilting. I found this pattern easy to quilt on my domestic machine. There were just a couple places that I ended up with a bit of wonky space and had to fill in with a non-spiral. I don't think I got any shots of those "creative areas." ;-)

I backed the quilt with this wonderful rainbow fabric. I may love the back even more than the front.

Since the front was very colorful and the back is a vibrant rainbow, I opted for a black an white (with a spec of red) fabric for the binding.

I named it Caterpillar Fizz, a nod to the pattern name. Here's my simple label. I attach my labels before quilting, so they're extra held in place by the quilting stitches.

This 36" x 36" quilt is going to a little 6-month-old and I hope he loves it to pieces.

Thanks for visiting!

I'm linking up to the Q3 Finish Along finishes party. See all my Q3 WIPs in my goal post.

• 10 Comments

•

First, the migraine report: They haven't been quite as bad overall this week. Time is still getting away from me as I play catch up, hence the late post. It's totally still Wednesday in my time zone. ;-)

I've basically been a free motion quilting machine this week. Last week, I'd just started the quilting on Zoom Zoom. It's now fully quilted and bound! Woo hoo! Full reveal on the blog tomorrow, but here's a peek.

 

I also completed the quilting on Caterpillar Fizz, my baby size Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt. No binding yet.

 

Then I moved on to my Star Light Star Dark quilt from the quilt along at Quilty Habit. I'm quilting each quadrant with a different color thread, and I'm almost done with the yellow thread section. I just need to quilt the large star.

 

In case you haven't seen my last two posts, I've entered quilts into the Original Design and Home Machine Quilted categories of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Voting is open through Friday if you'd like to check out the many beautiful quilts being shared and vote for your favorites. There are links to the categories I entered in my last two posts and you can find all the categories on Amy's main post.

AmysCreativeSide

 

Thanks for visiting! I hope you're having a great week.

I'm linking up to Midweek Makers and Needle and Thread Thursday.

• 12 Comments

•

Most of the past week was spent stitching my block and preparing my post for the New Block Hop I participated in this week. If you haven't checked out those posts, we have some amazingly talented participants with some really awesome blocks. (Links to day one posts and to the hosts can be found in my last post.) Beyond that, everything has been about preparing to quilt a number of quilts. That number happens to be five.

The Quilts

  1. I helped my daughter baste her doll quilt. She's getting very excited to give her gift. Here's the front view and a peek at the backing/label. I love that she's named it Striped Quilt.
  2. I have a secret project that is basted and ready for some straight line quilting. No pics.
  3. The race car quilt is basted and ready to quilt. I'm going for some Jess inspired free motion on that one. 
  4. My sister and brother-in-law requested another quilt for my baby nephew to play on so I'll be finishing up Star Light Star Dark for them. I've chosen backing (see below) and binding fabrics for this one, and made the label. (Edited: I'm linking up to the Star Light Star Dark Final Linky Party with my finished quilt top.)
  5. I hope to crank out a fast finish on a Very Hungry Caterpillar baby quilt to deliver this weekend. It's all ready to baste. I love that it's small enough to not need a pieced backing. The label is above. 

Now I'm hoping for some great sewjo and a few really productive days of quilting. Fingers crossed.

 

A Little Bit About My Quilting Process

I start by working on my hardwood floor to baste, using blue tape to tape down only my backing fabric. I pin baste. I like to use Clover Flower Head Pins and Pinmoors. I am very generous with the number of pins I use, pinning every 3-4" to avoid shifting. Generally, I put all the pins in, remove the tape and then sit in a comfortable seat while I put on the Pinmoors. (I love how fast and easy they are to remove during quilting.) I use Quilter's Dream cotton batting exclusively. My quilts usually stay in California, and it doesn't get that cold here. My preferred batting weight is Select. I use both walking foot and free motion quilting, all done on my domestic machine, which has a 7" throat (the space to the right of the needle). The largest quilt I think I've quilted on it to date is Bold Blooms, which is 65" x 83". Our king-sized bed quilt is the one quilt I've sent out to a long arm quilter. (I just wanted it done!) I use a closed toe darning foot for free motion quilting, but wish I had an open toe darning foot. I think that's about it. Let me know if I missed anything you'd like to know about!

Thanks for visiting!