A Friday Finish...My Cat Weave Quilt

I am happy to say that I found the energy to get this cute little quilt finished over the last two weeks.

 The day was sunny so I went out in the yard and I found my little patch of Crocus was in bloom.

 There is nothing that says spring to me like the first crocus. We live down in a bit of a hollow, so the daffodils are not blooming down here yet. They are next.

 I love the way the weaving of the strips looks on this quilt. It is all Lizzy House Catnap fabrics. I adore Lizzy House fabrics. The white is Kona white.

 The quilting is stitched in the ditch for the woven strips and then hubby had the idea for the swirls in the white squares for contrast and interest.

 I used the rest of the half yard pieces for the backing. This quilt finished at about 49 inches square. The binding is also leftover strips from the weave. I went with the red and brown to frame it up.

 Some of the cutest fabric ever. I love this big print. I love the back of the quilt as much as the front.

I hope you have a great Friday the 13th and a wonderful weekend. Linking up to TGIFF at Quilt Matters.  
Also linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
This is one of my Quarter 1 finishes from this list. Linking up with Adrienne at On the Windy Side for the 2015 FAL.

WIP Wednesday: Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

This is such a busy, crazy time of the year. So many things to get done for the holidays, family obligations to be carried out. We squeeze so much into these last days of the year. So, for now, some of my WIPs are waiting, waiting, waiting until I can get back to them. Here is some of what I am working on:

 My Cat Weave quilt, made with Lizzy House Catnap fabrics...blocks still in progress.

 My X Plus quilt, made with blocks from my wonderful Sunday Morning Quilts Bee group. The blocks just need to be joined together.

 My Tula Pink Bee quilt/pillow. I made a couple of blocks, but now, I am not sure of the blocks I chose to make, so I am thinking on it.

And this beauty, which needs to be quilted. I was stuck for the back, until Lee showed the back of hers and I got unstuck.  I am also working on a baby quilt and some cross stitching for an upcoming blog hop project. I messed up a row though, so now I am un-stitching a bit. Lots still to do, while waiting, waiting waiting for Santa. Hope your week is swell! Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday

Maybe I should call this post WIPs Wednesday. I never have just one in progress. So many things to sew, so little time. Here's what I have going on:

 I don't have a shot of it on the machine, but I am quilting this one for my great niece, V. It is made from a jelly roll of Hello, Petal by Aneela Hoey. She is a girly girl and so is this cute fabric. Can't wait to show you the quilting on it. Maybe next week. It is a lot of quilting.

 I am piecing this cute woven quilt design from my wonderful Lizzy House Catnap fabric. I have had the fabric for almost a year, searching for the proper showcase pattern. This is my own design.

And lastly, I had to just trow these up on the design wall. These are my bee blocks from round 3 of the Sunday Morning Quilts Bee. I asked my bee mates for scrappy X and plus blocks in the spirit of the Sunday Morning Quilts book and so far, this is what I have. Still waiting on a few more before I finalize the placement. Hope your mid-week is going great. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

My Newest Quilt in Progress

I am calling this quilt Cat Weave.  I have seen other woven quilt patterns around, but this one is my own. I have long been wanting to use my Lizzy House Catnap fabrics, but I wanted to do this in a way that really shows off the fabrics. Finally, the idea came to me and I started. Here is a brief tutorial.

 I cut 2 1/2 inch squares in white and the four fabrics I wanted to be the "weave". I went through and joined them together. Chain piecing is easiest at this point.

 Next, after pressing the seams open, I joined the 4 !/2 inch white piece to the other side, again, pressing seams open to reduce the bulk later on.

 I had to look at my sketch to make sure, at this point that I was putting things together correctly, but I attached the 8 1/2 inch color strips to my units. A sketch, or laying one out on the design wall for reference is most helpful. Now, the final block assembly.

 The cat print is my focus fabric.  Making sure to orient it correctly, I pinned it to the first strip, marking a hair over 1/4 inch from the end. That is where you stop sewing this partial seam. All the rest of the seams are sewn completely and then you come back and finish this one. I know, it sounds confusing.

 This picture is a little blurry, but I sewed from the corner to just shy of my mark. I back stitched here.

 For this seam, I did not press open, but pressed toward the center square fabric. You can see the top of the block where the ends completely match.

 Next, you sew the top strip completely from end to end. This is the way you continue, sewing around the block center.

 Here, you can see the quarter inch that is not sewn at this point. Sorry, my pictures got a little out of order here.

 Then, you sew on the third side piece completely from end to end, just like the last piece was sewn.

 Now, this is the only tricky part, and it is not too hard, but use your pins here. Pin the final piece in place on the last side. Be careful to only sew the 1/4 inch seam, and not to sew over the end of the first section, which is the red in the picture. See how I have pulled it to the side?

 Here is a picture of the actual sewing process here on this seam. I put the pin in at this position and just slowly slid it out as I stitched toward it.

 Now, you just have to go back and finish sewing the rest of that partial seam you started earlier.

 This is so very easy. put everything in place and pin it to hold it. then stitch from where you back stitched earlier to the end of the fabric.

 This is what the back looks like. Seams are pressed open in all the side pieces, but the part where the attach to the center, I pressed towards the center.

 Here are two blocks, side by side on the design wall.

And this is what 4 blocks look like, all joined together. I plan to make at least 3 more of these 4 block units and then decide if that is big enough for me. Two tips here: use pins. I don't always, but this block needs to line up to work well. Shorten your stitch length. I learned that from Amanda Jean and it makes a big difference when you really need those blocks to line up perfectly. I will be back to show you when the top is done. I haven't decided yet if it needs a border. What do you think?

A New Quilt Started

As if I needed another quilt start. But, I have had some yardage of Lizzy House's Catnap line for quite some time. Always in the back of my head it sat. I was trying to find the perfect quilt design to show off those great prints. I never could get one I really liked, until now.  I saw a quilt the other day that had a kind of motion to it. It inspired me to sketch this:

It will look woven when it's done and there is some partial seem sewing to it. But the end result should show off the fabric nicely, which was my goal.

So I cut out a bunch of pieces. I have no idea how many blocks I will make. They finish at about 12 inches and I would like a nice size throw for my Cat naps on the couch. Here is the first block:

I think I like it. I am going to have to sew carefully on this so the strips match up. I might even have to use pins (eek!) And guess what else?
I am finally quilting this:

This is my Belle Waves quilt made with Squared Elements and the lovely flower print from Art Gallery fabrics. It is Essentials by Pat Bravo. Have a great day! See you soon.