St Louis 16 Patch

I stayed up extra late (for me anyway) last night to finish my St Louis 16 patch quilt top. It started out 5 more blocks to go, so I decided to go ahead and cut the strip sets, then I decided to go ahead and piece the blocks. Then I decided to lay it out, then I figured since I was that far I might as well finish it. So I did. I already know how I am going to quilt it, and what fabric I am going to use for the binding. I just need to figure out a backing.

I love all the different colors mixed together. I used mostly DS Quilts fabrics from Joann's mixed in with some other prints. I didn't stick with a certain color palette either. I really went outside of my comfort zone (to a certain extent) but you can tell I love aqua and blue and red.

The quilt finishes at about 60 by 72 and the blocks come together so quickly. I will definitely be using this pattern again. This quilt really blew up all over the Internet and Instagram. I am a little behind the trend and finished mine a lot later than most everyone else, but that's just how I roll. I am always a little behind.

This is my third completed quilt top in the last month or so and its time for me to really get cracking on the quilting part. I am going to be honest here, I HATE basting. If I could avoid it I would. It would make quilting so much more fun. My plan is to get my Dream On quilt done first, hopefully this weekend, or at least get the backing done and get it basted. Hopefully I will have some pictures of a completed quilt very soon. Then hopefully I will be able to move on to my Scrappy Trip Along quilt. My goal is to have both of those DONE by the end of the month. Then I will aim to finish this quilt and my Modern Maples quilt next month. (That is my tentative plan for now, we will see how that plays out)

Has anyone else made a St Louis 16 Patch quilt? I'd love to see them!

Modern Maples

Not that I needed another project to take up my time, but I guess I did. You know how much I love fall, and I am beyond excited waiting for it get here. The other day I was looking through Instagram and I saw a couple posts about the Modern Maples quilt from Quilt Dads book. Of course, I'd seen it before and loved it, but something about seeing it this time made me fall head over heels in love. Probably because I have fall fever right now. So the other day I went through my stash, pulling out fabrics and pairing them together. I am going for a scrappy, low volume background, similar to my In The Wild Starburst quilt. The Comma Period print in Chalk scraps I had left are making an appearance. 

           

I am going for a fall-ish palette, mostly browns some burgundies and purplish-reds, oranges, golds and yellows. I think for the solid background blocks I am going to use some linen for texture. I've also been pulling fabrics for another quilt I hope to start in a few months. Or I may not. Sometimes I pull fabrics with ideas in my head, excited about what I want to make, and then the excitement is replaced by something else, and those fabrics get turned into something else. We will see. 

                

For now I am super excited about this quilt, and my Dream On quilt. I am hoping to start the quilting this week. I picked up batting over the weekend and I need to figure out how I am going to do the backing. Oh, and my St Louis 16 Patch and Scrappy Trip along. I am trying to find backing and binding for my Scrappy Trip Along quilt. It's hard to find something that works with such a scrappy quilt without competing with it too much. I am pretty sure I am doing a black and white stripe for the binding, but the backing has me stumped.

So I've told you what my favorite season is, what is yours, and why? And what projects are you excited about right now?

Birdie Sling(s)

I started the year out with a lot of goals in mind, and of course there is no way I am going to get to all of them. But I sat down the other day and thought about the things I really want to do before the year is over. So I made a list that I can refer back to in the next few months (and hopefully cross a few things off!) One of the things on the list was Christmas presents. Specifically for my boyfriend's mother and sisters.

I love my boyfriend's family. They are all amazing. And his two sisters are wonderful. His mother is so amazingly sweet. I want to make them something for Christmas, and I think a Birdie Sling is just the ticket. I want to make them all the same bag but in different fabrics. I told my boyfriend to find out their favorite colors, but I have my doubts that he will so I have a feeling that I will end up trusting my gut. Here are my initial fabric selections. I just love the colors from Gypsy Caravan! But I have several other choices on hand in case he DOES find out what colors they all like.

I also have plans to make something for my sister, but she is fairly likely to read my blog and that would spoil the surprise ;)



OH! And I almost forgot to mention, I opened an Etsy shop! You can check it out here! I have my Sidebraid quilt listed for sale and some zipper pouches. I plan on posting a few other things next week too, I'd love for you to check it out!

Remember When I Started a Scrappy Trip?

I've been working on this project on and off for months now. Sometimes I loved and other times I didn't. I was torn on even finishing it. But I decided to put what I had together and leave it at that. I originally had planned on 6 more blocks. 

My cocker spaniel decided he wanted to help while I was laying it out. That delayed things a bit.

But the top is done, and I once again love it. I love it so much that now I am reconsidering those last 6 blocks on the right side that would bring the quilt to roughly 72 by 72.

What do you think?