Quilting Along with the Dogs

Pin It Happy November 2nd my bloggy peeps!  I am very excited to FINALLY showcase a UFO (Un Finished Object) that is now complete!  This quilt was one that I started with my sister as a quilt-along.  I have never participated in one before.  So my sister and I decided to fake our own little "quilt-along" together.  My sister, in true responsible big-sister form, finished TWO quilts in the time that I am now just finishing mine!!!  Ugh!  I covet her tenacity!

We chose to use the free quilt pattern from one of my favorite blogs Cluck Cluck Sew.  It is an easy quilt where you are appliquing circles on top of your quilt block and leaving them raw edged.


Let's start with my sister Robin's two beautiful quilts for each of her daughters.

NICCI'S BIRTHDAY QUILT

This beautiful blue/green one she made for her oldest Nicci.  I just love how Robin chose fabrics that correspond with each of her girl's personalities.  Elementary school teacher Nicci is a blue and green personality in that she can go either tomboy-like or girly (but NO heels!).  She loves to eat vegetarian and loves animals.  These colors suit her intelligent and witty personality perfectly!

 I just LOVE the perfect, simple quilting that Robin did here.  And the striped backing!  Oh my word!  I would NEVER have enough guts to do a stripe for fear that it would end up all crooked and such.  But Robin has talent beyond words, so it doesn't surprise me that she can pull this off and make it look easy.  I have much to learn.  Teach me big sister!

Don't the blues just POP here?  I am loving the blues!  So perfect!  I love the really wide binding too!  So cool!

Apparently Nicci finds her kitty Sable more often than not, taking her naps on this quilt.  Personally I would love to snuggle under this quilt and have a nice long winter nap and wake up to watch the snow falling outside.  What a gorgeous heirloom to pass on right?

HEATHER'S BIRTHDAY QUILT

And this one in all hues of purple was made for Heather, Robin's younger daughter.  Heather loves all things fashion-y and stylish.  She is a true girl with a sweet, bubbly kind of personality who LOVES to wear heels!  Robin's color combos here suit Heather perfectly.

(Robin's plethora of talents include a very green thumb!)  It's my blog, I can brag!

As you can see Robin backed this quilt in damask which looks absolutely gorgeous!  Wouldn't you just love to snuggle under this on a rainy day with a book and cup of tea in front of a fireplace?  

Not being one to miss any detail, Robin named the quilt after a MAC purple eyeshadow color, "Makeup Forever #92" as cosmetologist Heather loves the fabulous MAC makeup brand. 

Isn't this great?  What a keepsake!

  Robin's dog, Olive Blanche obviously loves the quilt too!

Thank you Robin for doing this quilt along with me.  Do it again?

BINKY'S BUBBLES

And finally the quilt that I made for my momma, of which is aptly named Binky's Bubbles,  (which reflects my mother Binky's personality to a "T!").  It was intended to be given to her for Mother's Day (and I never got it finished!  FAIL!) so I told her that I would have it done for her September birthday (and I never got it finished!  FAIL).... so now it is finished and I will finally be able to wrap it and put it under the Christmas tree.  And yes, she knows about it as I have been showing her the progress every time she comes to visit.  The first time she saw it, she loved the colors and I was tickled that she liked it so.

It all started from this pile of fabrics.  Some are Sandi Henderson, Paula Prass, Amy Butler and Pat Bravo's Art Gallery fabrics.

Then following Cluck, Cluck Sew's fabulous easy instructions, I cut out all of my squares and circles. I have a circle cutter that made it happen very quickly and efficiently!  I love when a plan comes together!

Here is a peek at my design wall.  You will notice I sewed 4 "practice blocks" (see bottom of photo) before I actually appliqued ALL the circles right onto the squares.  After appliquing all the circles on, I then cut all the blocks into quarters.  In the last step, I mixed all of the quarters up and re-matched them and sewed them back into squares. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

And finally the finished product!

A closer look:

I am still learning at all this free-motion quilting stuff.  On this quilt, I stippled the center of each circle.  Then stitched in the ditch between each block and then did a really simple swirly border.

I am obsessed with quilts and just love to look and stare at them and admire the hard work and love that goes into each and every one.

The delicious binding! I think it is one of my favorite parts about quilting.

 When I back my quilts, I LOVE to piece together all the fabric left-overs because, frankly I hate to look at the fabric ever again.  So essentially there are two quilts in one.  Makes it more fun don't you think?

 I even played a bit and put this on the back:

Looks as though Dango loved Binky's Bubbles as he snuggled right in while I was hand sewing the binding.

A special thank you to Cluck Cluck Sew for the free pattern.  Just love this quilt design!  And I KNOW my Momma will love it too!

In the meantime, I MUST quickly show you Robin's other talents!  She saw this project on Pinterest and decided that she too must make one as well. Robin found the beautiful leather antique suitcase at a local antique shop for a steal and used wooden fence-post toppers, painted black as the legs.  Olive Blanche fits her pet bed perfectly!  Notice the pocket behind Olive's head which holds all her toys?!  It is the perfect bed for travelling too!  What a brilliant project huh?!




In other sewing studio news, as per usual I always have something on the backer burner, just itching to be finished!

All this quilt needs is the binding and I am ready to blog!

 and this:

I hope these whet your appetite until I blog again.  Which I hope is sooner than later!!!

Until my next blog post: