Squirrely Triangles {Triangle Quilt Along}

Happy Friday Finishes! My Triangle Quilt Along quilt is done and I decided "Squirrely Triangles" would be an apt name. 

These fabrics were pulled 100% from my stash, about a dozen or so, based off the color palette from the squirrel and bunny fabric.  I'm super please with how my spur-of-the-moment fabric pull came together! The colors are so soft and pleasant.

The thing about triangle quilts-- the reason they are so "squirrely" are the points.  Paula at The Sassy Quilter did an excellent job guiding us through the steps to make these quilts successfully.  Personally, I think that perfect point are overrated (you can read my little rant about that here).

All the same I was tickled to find that probably 70% of my points in this quilt are what I would call "good."  (Full disclosure: I didn't starch.  I mixed quilting cottons and cotton lawns.  And my precision cutting leaves something to be desired.) What I'm saying is, if I could do it, you can do it, too.

I quilted it very simply with my walking foot, outlining all the seams in yellow thread.  I like the little stars this makes at all the intersections.

For binding I went with a yellow solid double fold, machine stitched down to both sides.  Binding along the zig zagged edges was time consuming, but not that difficult.

The backing is a cute floral with the same teals and greys as the top. I wish I'd found something more gender neutral, but oh well.

Label sewn under the binding.  It's done, washed, and ready for duty!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday and the Triangle Quilt Along.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly {Triangle Quilt Along}

Work on the triangle quilt continues.  I forgot to get a pic of the finished top before I began quilting it, but I'm not quite ready to show you the whole thing yet.  So, in the interest of brutal honesty and full disclosure, I thought I'd show you some of my points.   That's right, no artfully blurred shots from a distance here. Up close and personal and definitely not perfect.

This one classifies as a "good" point, although not perfect.

Points are the main reason triangles are so scary, because it's so difficult to keep them, well, pointy and get them lined up just so. 

"The bad."  Ok so they don't line up. I'd like to point out that are all still pointy, though.

From close up it's easy to see all the mistakes, but I promise, once you get done quilting it no one will ever be examining your points that closely again. (Unless you enter it in a show.  Bah Humbug on them!)  Also, I think that echoing the seam lines with quilting does a good job of distracting from less-than-perfect points.

And the just plain "ugly".  I should be ashamed. And yet, I'm not ;)

This is my personal beliefs on quilting:  it doesn't matter whether your points line up or your Y seams lie flat or maybe you have to quilt down a few tucks when you're quilting.  Only another quilter would ever notice those things, and they ought to have the decency to forgive you. We don't quilt for other quilters. We quilt for new babies and ailing grandmothers and happy newlyweds, who can't quilt for themselves or else they wouldn't need us. And believe me, none of them will even notice the points.

This is one of my favorite things about quilting. That things can go really, horribly wrong with the design and you'll still wind up with a good blanket that can keep someone warm and comfortable.  Quilting is so forgiving!  And so are the people we quilt for.  So relax, chop off a few points, enjoy your quilting and don't agonize over a few mistakes.

The elusive "perfect" point.

And when it does all come together perfectly, smile, enjoy it, and maybe take a picture to brag to your quilting buddies, but don't let it define you.

Just my two cents :)

Linking up to the Triangle Quilt Along.

WIP Wednesday: Quilting

No sooner said than done, my freshly modified desk and machine were delivered back this evening and I am already quilting away!  The triangle quilt along quilt is first up on the machine.

I'm going with the traditional straight line quilting on this one, outlining the seams. I will also be leaving the zig-zag edges rather than trimming them.  I'm also working on the Rainbow Waves quilt bit by bit.

This pic is from when I basted it (of course Wilson was helping).  I am planning a simple stipple but it is such a large quilt that it will be a real bear to quilt.  Here's to a happy day's quilting!

Linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday. 

More Triangles and an Awesome Hat

Progress is coming right along on the Triangle Quilt Along quilt.  All 12 rows are now sewn.

While I sewed my rows together I had a movie day.  On the suggestion of a reader I watch "Last of the Blonde Bombshells" (excellent!), then I watched "RAGE" (Jude Law in drag!), then I watched the first two "Hobbit" movies.  (If you enjoyed the first Hobbit movie you really need to watch the extended edition which is out now, some great stuff added back in!)

Now, I have to make a detour here to give you some background knowledge. See, I love hats.  Really. It's the only item of clothing I have a problem with buying more and more of.

This one is my favorite.

Hard to beat a good beanie.  Sadly I lost this one.

Lost this cap, too :(  

Anyway, some of you may see where this is going by now.  I've decided to make myself Bofur's Hat!  One of the dwarves in the Hobbit movies has this fabulous hat that look a little bit like a bomber hat with more eccentric ear flaps.

This is prototype 3.0 made with cheap suede and polyester fluff from Hancocks. I have a nice piece of leather sheep's hide (wool still attached) coming to make the final version.  The best part is the hat is totally functional. Those ear flaps flip down and can wrap around my neck and the back of the hat extends almost down to my collar. It ought to be very warm.  My leather should be here in a week or so, I can't wait!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and the Triangle Quilt Along.

Cloudy sewing day

After my late start I got on the ball first thing this morning and cut out all my triangles for the triangle quilt along. I love this fabric pull ever more in the daylight!

I appreciated Paula's detailed instructions on how to cut the triangles using various rulers.  Like some others, I have the funky Marti Michell ruler (it was the only one available locally.)  The unique thing about this ruler is that the lines on the ruler are labeled with the finished side lengths of the triangles.  I think it might be useful for a beginner quilter, but since I have been quilting for (could it be?) almost 5 years now, I have already learned to think in terms of cut sizes and seam allowances, so it's just frustrating.

I also sewed more blocks for the Rainbow Waves quilt. I am up to 24 now, half way there!  Here's to a weekend of happy sewing :)

Linking up to the Triangle Quilt Along.

Triangle Quilt Along, and life in general

So, at pretty much the very last possible minute, I have decided to join the Triangle Quilt Along.  The deadline for posing a fabric pull is midnight tonight; here is what I came up with.  I used the squirrel fabric as my inspiration and added some teal, too.

Other things that happened this week... This is on my design wall.  I'm planning to frame these three sections and then set the whole thing in dark blue solid.

I'm up to 12 blocks done on the Rainbow Waves quilt.  Oh, and this happened. Rotary cutter injury (yes, Again!)  Same finger, not quite as bad.  There were some very bad words said when that occurred, but no blood was shed on fabric :)  It's healing well already, thankfully.

Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and the Triangle Quilt Along fabric pull linkup.