In 2004, I "gave" my brother a "quilt" for Christmas. It was a work in progress and I really had the best of intentions of finishing it up and handing over the finished quilt shortly thereafter. Here's what it looks like today:
There are 8 completed blocks.
Here's the day I gave it to him:
Not such impressive progress in 10 1/2 years, huh?
I must say, I'm much more excited about working on a number of other projects I currently have going. But, my goodness, they are snowball blocks! They shouldn't take long. However, I think once I get going on this project I'm going to have to rework the overall plan for it since my brother is now 6'5". So this month's goal is to finish piecing these blocks. There. I've put it out there. Now I'm accountable to all of you. Here's to making progress this month and turning it into a Q3 finish!
I'm so excited to be participating in my first Blog Hop! I had admired Ms. Midge's Charm Dash pattern and when she asked for Blog Hoppers I was excited to jump (er, hop?) on in! I had quite a few purple charms in my stash from my 2005 fabric swap (which I used to make The Purple Quilt) and decided I'd use those. Check out the Anna Maria Horner Charm-Along & Charm Dash Blog Hop! She's got some amazing prizes for her linkup on April 9th. Check out all the details on her blog.
I dove in working on the project in January, choosing fabric, starting to cut my charms, and deciding on the background color (American Made Brand Dark Indigo).
Then procrastination set in... I've been a procrastinator my whole life. Even when I know I'm in it, I can't kick it into gear until I'm really feeling that I'm in crunch time. So, this week, powered by Gilmore Girls and ice cream, while the kids were in school and late into the evenings, I sewed and sewed and sewed until I finished my Charm Dash quilt in the wee hours of the morning late last night. I hope you enjoy the result. (While you're enjoying, I'll be napping.)This is the throw size. With my single 4" border it measures 45" by 58". I'm calling the quilt Prince Charming, made from Charm squares in the royal color of purple. (No, I'm not getting better at naming my quilts. I had help. Thanks, Amber.) I was able to use purple fabrics from my stash for the backing and binding. Woo! #sewmystash2015
Prince Charming handmade by Sarah Goer Charm Dash Blog Hop March 2015
I loved how quickly the blocks went together. It lends itself to chain piecing, which I always appreciate. The negative spaces are great for featuring some creative quilting. (I kinda wish I'd used a more contrasting thread color. I really like how the closed loop of stippling in the octagons looks like coral.
If you're excited about making your own Charm Dash quilt, Ms. Midge has her pattern on sale right now at Etsy and Craftsy.
Be sure check out the rest of the Blog Hop; you are in for some great projects by some fabulous quilters! (I'll update my links below to the specific posts once they are live.)
Friday, March 13th - Sarah Goer - Things I Make - you are here ;-)
Since last night's pictures were taken inside due to finishing my monthly goal after dark on the last day of the month, I just had to get Candy Shoppe outside this morning to take some more pictures.
I started quilting in 2002 and in the summer of 2003 I went on my first quilt shop hop, Shop Hop By the Bay. I rode along on a bus that someone in my guild organized for a day trip to visit many of the shops, and traveled to the other shops on my own the next day. At each location we were given one step in the directions for a mystery quilt, using 20 fat quarters and one contrasting fabric. The idea was to not look at the step in the directions until you'd finished the previous step. So I just looked at the shopping list and started shopping. I remember other women choosing florals or patriotic prints. At the first shop I bought a couple fat quarters that called out to me. Then I got back on the bus, having no idea what my plan was. I think it was another quilter who suggested I continue with brightly colored prints and along the way someone suggested a black and white fabric for my contrasting fabric.
Once I'd accumulated my 20 crazy fat quarters I was excited to get started and I think I pieced it pretty quickly. But back then I didn't know how to free motion quilt and I really wanted to learn before I finished the quilt. It wasn't until 2010 that I finally learned to free motion quilt, and finally this summer I started thinking more seriously about making a pieced backing which I had saved scraps from my fat quarters to make. I'm so glad to have finished this in September. And I'm thankful for Melissa and Shanna who run A Lovely Year of Finishes and Katy who runs the quarterly 2014 Finish Along for providing motivation for me to get some (and in cases like this, some really old) projects done.
Candy Shoppe is entirely machine pieced and quilted. It measures 57" by 67".
This is the throw size. With my single 4" border it measures 45" by 58". I'm calling the quilt Prince Charming, made from Charm squares in the royal color of purple. (No, I'm not getting better at naming my quilts. I had help. Thanks, Amber.) I was able to use purple fabrics from my stash for the backing and binding. Woo! #sewmystash2015
