A Two-fer

That's right, I've got a post that is BOTH a Finish it up Friday AND a Free Motion Friday quilt! I've finally taken pictures of my completed Star Jump Quilt.

Just hanging in the grove. 

I finished sewing the binding while at the regional science fair (the binding took an hour or two, the science fair took 20. We have 3 teams moving on to state! It was worth it). 

Star Jump Quilt, Pattern by Jess of The Elven Garden

I made the Star Jump Quilt as a pattern tester for Jess of The Elven Garden. I really liked the chain elements of the pattern, and my color choices gave the whole quilt a kind of a vintage feel. I was going for a genderless baby quilt, although it is probably a bit mature for a baby quilt. 

The background fabric is Carolyn Friedlander from Doe, and I also backed the quilt in more of her fabrics. 

Back of the quilt

I also added in a Lotta Jansdotter fabric that I absolutely fell in love with. I was so happy to have some scraps left over after quilting this guy!

My traditional label. Stamped! Also, close up of Lotta Jansdotter fabric.

Here you can kind of see the quilting. This is the first quilt I've free motion quilted. I learned with a Craftsy class, and now I just need to keep practicing. For this quilt I just radiated figure 8's from the center. 

Quilting texture

It's modern, it's traditional, it's textural. I love the effect. I just need to keep practicing so that I end up liking all the 8's. It stinks when I get a wonky one and that's all I can see. 

Center quilting.

For the center square I did long wiggles back and forth. It was good practice, and I like how it's a little different from the rest of the quilting.

All rolled up with nowhere to go.  Now I've got to find a home for it. So far, I've got two potentials, but I'm not sure who to gift it to. 

All the pictures are taken pre-wash. I just haven't had time to wash it AND take pictures! I also have to wash it because so far the cat's claimed it and he's leaving plenty of hair behind to prove it. 

I'm going to link up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday, and this quilt is on my Q1 finish along list, so at least I can cross one thing off!

As an endnote, here's a crazy link I found while searching for the original link to Jess's Star Jump Quilt Post. Apparently it's an image of my version of her quilt top and people vote if they think it is 'funny', 'cool', 'interesting', or 'stupid'. So far, stupid is winning! Who comes up with this stuff?
 

Scrappy Baby Quilt

I had fun with this one. I didn't really start with a plan, just some blocks I like. A few pineapples here, a few birdies there, all surrounded in low volume prints.

Racing through the orange grove. 

One of the aspects of making a quilt like this that I enjoy most is how putting everything together is like a puzzle. I know I mentioned recently that my 1/4 seams aren't always completely accurate. Some people would really worry about that, but since they're always off by the same amount it just kind of works out. 

Leaping foxes. 

Also, I've become way less focused on 'perfect' intersections. Though, I admit, I do get annoyed if things don't line up the way I wanted them to. Here my measurements worked out. 

The whole shebang.

I ended up with three central pineapple blocks. Each with a fussy cut center. They're surrounded by 8 birds on the long sides. I kind of wish that I had them both looking towards the center, but I'm ok with they way they've ended up. Then on the top and bottom are some low volume bricks, and its all finished with a set of novelty corners. 

Still life: quilt draped over bricks. 

As you can see, I had fun with this photoshoot. I walked around the citrus grove, and it was a nice evening light. The only problem was the breeze, but I think I made it work in my favor. 

Terrible editing, but I liked this picture so much!

I'm going to link up with Finish it up Friday. Tomorrow is our regional science fair. I've got to be at school at 5 am for the trip to the science fair. Then I get to wait around for hours while the students meet with the judges. I'm bringing a quilt to bind, so hopefully I'll have a finished quilt (not just top) to share soon too! Keep your fingers crossed for my little nerd squad. May they do well enough to continue competing in science fairs even if they don't win a prize!

WiP Wednesday

Even though Freshly Pieced is taking a WiP Wednesday hiatus, I figured I will use it to keep motivating me. At least, I'll try. It always depends on how much sewing time I have, and lately I haven't had much. I did make these bitty bear paws though.

Stack of Paws

I like bear paw blocks, and I found that these were quick to put together - once I learned the secret to half-square triangle blocks. I always make them 2 at a time, but that always entails a lot of trimming. My quarter-inch seam is not perfect, mostly because I don't have a quarter-inch foot. Then I read instead of drawing a single line and sewing a quarter inch away, draw two lines one quarter inch away from the center line and sew along that. WHAT?!?! 

Drawn lines for sewing along. 

Oh my gosh. Eight perfect HSTs. All I had to do was trim the dog ears. It made my bear paws finish so much quicker! In no time, I had a stack!

So many paws!

One set of triangles makes two paws, and if you can make two identical or mirror image bear paws. I will admit, I thought I could use fabric that I don't love so much because I love the block itself. It didn't work out quite the way I wanted, but as these are part of a bigger scrap quilt, I think that it will all work itself out. 

2 mirror images. 4 footies!

Linking up this week to Lets Bee Social with Lorna.