Yay! Sir’s best friend had his birthday party, and I can now share my Barrel Aged Quilt.
Thread Thursday 3: Anemone Quilt
I’m so excited to show you my Anemone quilt. This is my submission for the 2019 Living Coral Pantone Challenge! I’m going to keep my commentary on this one quick because I want Anemone to do the talking.
Thread Thursday 2: WIP Report Part 2
Two weeks ago, I started Thread Thursday with a first-half update on my WIP list. After 1,000 words and a lot of scrolling, I knew I needed to break things up a bit. For you as a reader and for me as an anxious person!! So here’s the second half of my list:
Projects by Hand
I fell in love with hand appliqué and English paper piecing several years ago and now have several projects going at once so I can sew on the go. They’re also great for nights I want to just sit in front of the TV but not be totally lazy about it.
Naturalist’s Notebook
This amazing project from Sandra Leichner has tons of tiny pieces, but it is so fun to keep layering them on to see the birds come to life. I’m finishing up the embroidery on the third block right now. I may put this project down for long stretches of time, but I’m always delighted to pick it back up.
Thread Thursday 1: WIP Report Part 1
Welcome to my new Thread Thursday series! Each week I’m going to share a little of what I’ve been working on in the studio. Since my quilty New Years resolution was to add more WIPs to my project list, I thought updating you on the complete list is a great place to start. I hope you enjoy part one of my WIP report.
I’m up to nearly 30 projects right now, so I’ve broken them up into categories. Buckle up!
Conversation Sampler Row 4
It’s time to update you on my progress for the Conversation Sampler Row 4! The rows are starting to get wider, and I’m so excited to see how the colors are all starting to work together.
Row 4: Dash Block
As the rows get wider, the colors get more… colorful?
Sunset Isle Quilt Along
My name is Joni, and I’m a sucker for rainbow quilts. In fact, I’m working on so many right now I’m going to need to do something completely different soon to break out of it. That doesn’t mean I resisted joining in on the Sunset Isle quilt along hosted by Alyce of Blossom Hearts Quilts. And so here I find myself giving you a four-block update on my progress so far.
Before I get into the pretty block pictures, I’m proud that every single fabric in this quilt came from my stash! I’ve been working really hard to “shop” from the stash first, and I’m really happy with how this is going to look.
I just love it when I have all the perfect fabrics for a quilt just lying around in my stash!
Stargazer Quilt Along
I’m quilting along with Rebecca Bryan from Bryan House Quilts for the Stargazer quilt. I really struggle with paper piecing, so I try to do a major project using this technique each year.
Rebecca has a genius method for doing it, and spoiler alert: I didn’t study it until after my first three blocks were done the traditional way. I felt like I was so far behind on my sewing and quilting after I moved that I didn’t think I had time to learn something new. I watched her video tutorial for the first time this week, and my mind is blown! To say I can’t wait to try it when the fourth block comes out later this month is an understatement. It definitely would have saved me the time I thought I didn’t have!
But for now, let me catch you up on my progress for the first three months.
A bright sunny day meant a photo shoot out on my deck! Here are the first three months put together.
How to Trim Half-Square Triangles Perfectly
When I first started quilting nearly 20 years ago, the method for making half-square triangles was pretty straightforward and limiting. Cut your squares 7/8-inch larger than the finished block, stack them together, sew a 1/4-inch seam on both sides of a center line, cut them apart, and press. You were supposed to have the right sized blocks following these steps.
Except I never did. Ever. It was so frustrating.
And while a number of novel ways to create half-square triangles have come along and the rulers – oh, the rulers! – make creating them clever, my favorite way to make half-square triangles is to make them bigger than I need to and them trim them down after they’re sewn.
A perfectly pieced and sized half-square triangle!
See My New Studio!
I’m so happy my new quilting studio is set up, so today I’m going to take you on a quick tour. Full disclosure: I took these pictures as soon as everything was set up before I could make a mess!!
Here’s my setup in the new quilting studio. I share the space with Sir, who is also an artist.
Perfect Half-Square Triangles Quilt Along: Blocks 1-3
Things are humming right along in my new studio, and I’m happy to share the first three blocks from the Perfect Half-Square Triangles Quilt Along.
When I join a quilt along, it’s usually because I thought the pattern was pretty. And who doesn’t like pretty things?! With Lee’s project though, this was all about learning a new way to piece half-square triangles. So I decided to use the same colors she uses in the sample on her site. Also, it’s a really pretty color way!
So without further delay, here are my blocks:
Block 1: Ridgeline Star
Block one of the perfect half-square triangles quilt along, Ridgeline Star
