A Year of Lovely Finishes - Jan 2013

The Piano Runner 9 1/2" x 60"

Oh I am so happy to report that I finished my Piano Runner.  I did enjoy making this from conception to finished project it was so fun and really my first time making something with out any pattern.  I choose the blocks 1st that I wanted to include in the runner, started with paper piecing the 3 Pineapple Blocks and 6 log cabins.  I carefully chose the colors, wanting mostly creams and browns with and accent fabric for the Pineapple blocks to give it a pop of color.  The finished runner is 9 1/2" x 60".  I really do love it and know it will look nice on the piano in the community Ctr. where I live.

Thanks  Melissa at Bittersweet Designs and Shanna of Fiber of all Sorts for hosting "A Year of Lovely Finishes 2013".  I am looking forward to choosing my February Finish.

 

The Creative Process of making the Piano Runner
Telling the Story:  Last Year I was asked to make a runner for the piano in the community center where  lived.  I wanted the runner to blend in with the surroundings and for most seasonal changes so I wanted neutrals with a pop of color.  I chose to combine Log Cabin blocks with Pineapple blocks and to paper piece the blocks to keep them uniform.  My Runner would be 10" x 60".  The above picture shows the process.

Frosty's Cabins? or Leaves and vines????

Frosty's Cabins Quilt Top
I have added the borders and my corner stars and have sandwiched and pinned my topper getting
it ready for quilting.  I love the border fabric I choose but I don't think it will lend itself to
appliques of Snowmen and Trees - I just might add a vine and leaves with flowers instead. 
 

more pictures of Frosty's Cabins

Here are some pictures of  my Frosty's Cabins wall hanging

my corner squares  I like the way these turned out

a log cabin block

my 6 log cabins with the 1st border on now to choose the fabric for my 6 1/2" borders

Frosty's Cabins continues

the top fabric is the one I made the corner stars from

The top blue is the background and the dark blue on the bottom is my small border

the beginning of my log cabin

I have finished the six log cabin blocks I need for my center in the greens and blues I chose and have sewn them together & added a dark blue border with my tone on tone fabric.  I like the way they look.  yesterday I finished my 4 corner stars in green and blue.  Very pretty.  I now have to figure out the color I want for my border.  At this point I am not sure if I will add the appliques of trees and snowmen.  Mmmmm  decisions, decisions.  I will let this sit for the rest of the day to ponder this.  Anyway I have a playdate with my kids - The grownup ones.  we will be scrapbooking together this afternoon.  I am looking forward to this.  I want to put together all the Christmas photos and cards I received.... 

Started a New Project Yesterday

Every Tuesday I try to meet with my quilting buddies at the Pointe - I love this little group.  We are very supportive of each other and work well together.  Frank brought in a pattern for us to share and I had chosen to do it in Blues and Greens... I had some fat quarters that were given to me for my Birthday that I wanted to use in washed blue hues and green prints.  Mmmmm, also some one had donated some fabrics to our group...I knew I could fill in with color....

Frosty's Cabins

The pattern is from McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts Magazine/winter 1998/99. (Love those old magazines); called Frosty's Cabins a table topper designed by Laura DeMarco & Rita DeMarco.  A log cabin design with applique.  Applique is something new for our group. :) 

My Paper Pieced Pineapple Block

My Finished Paper Pieced Pineapple Block with border added
 

Today I would love to share with you how I choose to make my pineapple block for my Piano runner.  When planning my piano runner I 1st chose the log cabin block for my main blocks - a no brainer.  I love the versatility of that block and the colors I chose were very muted but I felt I needed a POP of color.  I  pondered over which type of block to use to accomplish this and the Pineapple block came to mind.  I had made one about a year ago when my quilting group was learning about the different blocks. I couldn't find my notes and was not sure how to make one - so I googled "how to make a pineapple block" and looked at all the options.  Wow a lot of choices and many tutorials.  Here is how I did mine.

 The pattern I liked was by Kathleen Brown After finding a 6" block design that I liked I printed it out several times.  I choose my colors from my fat quarters and cut 1" strips from my light and dark fabric.  Then I measured the middle section and cut out my center to match (always adding 1/4" seam allowance all around.  I used my glue stick to adhere it to the unprinted side face up.  Placed my #2 fabric face down the ctr fabric and pinned it, flipped it over and sewed on the line.  I used a short stitch ( that makes it esier to take off the paper when finished.  I repeated for the other three positions then I flipped it to the fabric side and I finger pressed open # 1 fabric using a cool tool from Clover.

I measured each succeeding line, adding 1/2"  for seam allowance (1/4"each side), cutting 4 of each length for the following row.  Before pinning them down I trimed off excess fabric



the pattern from Kathleen Brown
 

Januarys Goal for my 1st finish

January's Goal, for a year of lovely finishes

 

 

I have chosen as my January goal to finish a piano runner I am designing for the community ctr. where I live.  Dimensions are 10" x 60".  I have chosen a soft palate of browns, tans, creams and white with a pop of color in soft greens, gold and pink.  I wanted a muted and soft background so that it would compliment  most seasonal displays that might be chosen to be placed on it.   the blocks I chose to use in it are the log cabin and the pineapple blocks.  I paper pieced 6 log cabin blocks and 3 pineapple blocks. finished size to be 6" for each.  I used the pineapple block to give it a "Pop" of color.  The Border will be 2" wide and I have chosen a soft green print for it.  I haven't decided on the backing fabric or color yet.   

 

A lovley Year of Finishes.

New Year’s Day has come and gone, 2013 has begun and I do hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve.  I was blessed to go to The Phipps’s (Center for the Arts) in Hudson New Year's eve with some friends, dinner afterwards and great conversation.  Got home before 11pm, watched the ball drop in Times Square. and after getting all warmed up, (I felt so cold from being out last night), I went to bed before midnight.  Put on my CPAP and slept till 7 am…. Yeah!  I am finally being able to sleep through the night with that crazy mask on.     
Today I plan to get into my sewing/craft room and catalog all the wip's that need to be finished.  I also plan to finish along with Bittersweet Designs to finish up these projects in this new year. 

My Finishes for 2012

"Stepping Stones"

Above is a quilt I started in Aug 2010 for my daughters wedding in 2011 - I was finally able to complete it by April of 2012.  Only 2 + years in the making. The pattern I chose was " yellow Brick Road" by Atkinson's Designs.  I made it my own by trimming each block to 9" and added the black sashing around it to give the eye a place to rest.  I was able to quilt it using the Long-Arm machine at "Top Stitchery" with Jean Potter.  I just love the wide border on this one. 

All this month I will be adding photos of what I have finished last year for you to see.  I have been looking at my projects and what I have finished.  I am amazed at all I did get done this year even with my health issues, Shoulder replacement Surgery and Back problems.  WOW! is all I can say.  I am amazed and surprised at what I have accomplished in 2012.  I have placed my photos on Flickr and you can view all my finishes here - Flickr - 2012 finishes.  I will also continue to update my photos
there. 

One of my more recent finishes was this Christmas Mini Quilt/Table topper.  I started by paper piecing the middle square in a square - by hand sewing because the pieces were too tiny to do by machine. I was able to machine piece the outer square, added two borders and then decided to make it reversible by using autumn colors on the back.  I had an orphan square from last years project so I added sashing and batting and surfaced quilted it before appliqueing it to the back.  I was able to match it up with the black sashing on the front and used my fancy machine stitching with clear thread.  I enjoyed the process of this quilt.  The Pattern, "A star is Born", was from one of my older quilting magazines.  I again made it my own by increasing the border size.  It seems like I do this pretty often doesn't it.