Citrus Squares Really Finished

I am finally really finished with this quilt.  It's bound and washed and quite nice if I do say so myself.

I realized that people who comment on my posts get a reply, but the rest of you don't get to know the answers to the inquiries.  Let me share some Q & A from the previous post...with a mix of the real replies and sassy answers that I chose not to say at the time.

Q: Why don't you use scraps for the binding?
A: Because I used them all on the back

A: Because the little bits and pieces I have left in these colors are no bigger than 4".  It would take 6 hours to piece together enough for a binding.

A: Because for $3.50 I bought this fabric which was perfect.

A:  Because I would have missed having the the following conversation:
Phone call with husband: Me: I'm leaving work now but need to stop at JoAnn's for some fabric. Blair: Oh Good! I was worried we were about to run out.


Q: Why don't you use beige to match the writing for the binding?
A: Beige is not a color.
A: No one in their right mind would think that I have beige fabric anywhere in my house.

Q: …and we just love that wrinkle don’t we?
A: Yes, it coordinates with those wrinkles under my eyes. 

Q: Why don't you use a thread stand?
A: Because it didn't come with my machine.
A: Because I can't see buying a gadget when there's only one thread that gives me trouble.
A:  Why don't you buy me one?

Looks like it's going to be a lovely weekend, which means time outside instead of inside sewing.   Will catch up with y'all much later.

Citrus Squares

Am I the only quilter who completely misjudges the length of time that it's going to take to finish a project?  I worked on this all weekend and still need to bind it.

I think that's going to mean a fabric purchase as I only have scraps in these colors.

This was a stash clean-out project.  Earlier this spring, I decided to pull out some orange fabric to make room for my growing batik stash.  I had an assortment of fabrics that I'd received as a gift that are printed with batik looking designs.  I had purchased the fabric with fruit names written all over it about a year ago (on clearance) thinking I would use it for a quilt back.  That inspired me to add the yellow and lime to the mix.  My only regret is that one of the greens I used is too light.  Oh well.

Jackie at Canton Villiage Quilt Works had posted this work in progress from her design wall back in February.  I had planned on making HST triangles into squares, but fell in love with how she arranged them in different sizes.

Thanks to Jackie both for the inspiration and permission to re-post her photos.

This is her finished quilt.  You really need to head to her post on this quilt to see the other pictures!  The close ups of the zig-zag quilting are great.

I was pondering how I was going to quilt it when Deborah at The Blue Hare posted this picture.
Isn't that texture amazing?

But could I really make myself quilt that much?

Answer:  No way!

But I do like the varying widths and decided to try something similar. (Thanks also to Deborah for inspiration and photo permission).

I used 3 colors (green, gold & orange) of Aurifill thread and quilted straight lines 1/4 to 1 inch apart.  This is the second project that I've done with Aurifill.  Sadly, my machine does not like this thread.  I tried everything to make her think otherwise.  I used a new needle (size 75 quilting), adjusted the tension, but the thread insisted on breaking every time that I sewed at full speed.

Interestingly, I had less breakage once the thread cones were down to about 1/2.  I had a similar problem with a different brands large cones which makes me suspect it has to do with the vertical spool position where so many of the machines now have a horizontal feed.

$2.25 Plus Tax Finished.

Please don't faint.  I actually got another project finished.

In case you forgot (or weren't around), this quilt was started in January 2011 as the result of reading blogs about the rising price of cotton fabric and suggestions to upcycle old shirts into quilts.  I paid $1.25 for a queen sized cotton sheet and the 2 plaid shirts were part of an "all you can fit in a bag for $1" deal at another thrift store.   It's a gift for my brother Dan.

By February, I had cut the shirts into blocks and started making HST, with a technique that sounded stupid, and it turns out really was a bad idea. 

The technique of making 4 HST at once sound great until you realize it puts all the edges as bias.

Not a big deal if you are making pinwheels.

But a royal pain in the tush when my vision was a whole quilt that was going to look like this.

I changed my design and got the top pieced last December and even started quilting it.

This morning as I was finishing the straight line stitching using the walking foot, I came to realize why this project was a UFO.  I lose interest when I get to the BORING part of the project.  Utility quilting is flat out boring.

But the pillow case that I made as FMQ practice in January was fun.  You can see more pictures at this post.  My favorite part was that I used the collars on the pillow case opening.

I'm working on the quilting on the Executive Woobie - the silk tie quilt.  It's being stitched to some soft minkee style fleece.  It's going to feel yummy!  Stay tuned for my next finish!

Citrus Squares

After a month of evenings sewing half-square triangles, I finally had a stack of about 350 sewn, pressed and trimmed by Sunday afternoon.

Here's my long awaited Citrus Squares quilt.  The inspiration for this layout was a quilt that I saw on Jackie's Blog: Canton Village Quilt Works. (Hurray! I finally remembered who's blog I saw it on)   The inspiration was smaller, and I'm quite proud of myself for not over-thinking things and I just randomly added on to the original pattern with small, med, or larger squares.

I have 4 rows stitched together and hope to have the top finished by the weekend.