Mod Times were had by all

I finished my Mod Times quilt over the weekend! 

As usual, I pieced the back as well.  In all honesty, the most common reason I piece the back of a quilt is that I don't have a large enough piece of one fabric to do the job.  Yes, I could usually wait one extra day and get more, but who wants to do that when you're ready to start quilting?  

I went a little nutty with all the quilting on this one.  It's for my cousin and his wife, who are expecting their first baby in August.  I usually try to tone down the super-modern feel if I don't have a good sense of someone's style...but I couldn't help it with this one! I used orange thread and loosey-goosey lines to trace the gray borders and then concentric "z's" inside the white sections (more loosey-goosey there too - I can't get enough of that look these days). 

can you see the quilting pattern?

how about now?

I didn't get a good shot of the binding but I used Pearl Bracelet in orange (more of Lizzy House's Red Letter Day line).  I love the way this quilt turned out!  I really hope my cousin does too!

Stats

Size = 34.5" x 37.5"

Fabric = 100% cotton

Batting = 50% bamboo, 50% organic cotton bend

Thread = 100% cotton

I also cut my fabric and pieced my squares for the Marshmallow Brochette Quilt Along that Natalie is hosting on her blog, Threaded Mess. (That's right...the second I was done with one quilt along, I started a new one!).    I'm going to donate this one to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge...it relates to my fellowship for breast cancer research...so tons of pink!  It's a story-and-a-half though, so I'll save that for later...

when will I ever learn?

Last weekend I stopped at my local quilt shop (LQS).  They sell amazing threads.  I only bought fabric.  All day today I was dreaming of coming home to finish the quilting on my Mod Times quilt (see today's first post).  I sat down and saw that the bobbin thread was low - no big woo - problem solved by winding said bobbin.  And when I looked up this is what I found...

That's right.  NO THREAD LEFT!  Why god, why did I not buy thread last weekend?  Why did I not even consider my thread status?  With any luck I can get home before the shop closes tomorrow (otherwise I have to wait until the weekend...which will be torturous - torturous, I tell you!)

But I was still in good spirits.  I have this delicious little WIP (work in progress) in need of a pieced backing.  

I pulled out my fabrics only to find that I did not buy enough!  Again, what the what?!?  I cannot be trusted to plan my own quilting adventures!  Well, I'm off to determine whether a little creative cutting can fix any of this. 

Eeeek!

I can't believe it!  (Ok, I'm going to take a deep breath and then try to write cohesive sentences.  But I'm pretty excited, so that cohesive sentence bit might not work out for me...)

First off, I've been participating in the Mod Times Quilt Along over at Twin Fibers.  I loved the design when I saw Jessica's original quilt, so when she announced the quilt along I immediately started running around like a crazy woman trying to gather fabrics.  I finally came up with a plan and cut all of my border and background pieces.  And then I decided that my plan sucked!  I also happened upon these Lizzy House ducks the day before my cutting spree (I had gotten just enough for this project and, luckily, it seemed to work well with the pieces I already cut!).   The instructions were fantastic and my quilt top came together right on schedule.  

(By the way, if anyone is afraid of inset seams, try making this quilt...Jessica made it SO easy!)  Anyway, I posted my progress photos to the Flickr group and last week my quilt was included in the photo collage!!  (This is where the "Eeeek!" comes in!)  I was so excited!!  Right now, I'm almost done with the quilting.  With any luck I'll be able to finish it up this week and get some nice sunny pictures to show you.

And for my second "Eeek" moment, when I added my Quilt Along photos to Flickr, I also put my Kat and the Canary photos in the Made with Laurie Wisbrun Fabrics! Flickr pool.  And later in the week Laurie herself commented on my quilt!  (Insert more squeals of delight here!)  I've been just a tad bit giddy this week! 

Here Goes Nothing...

Wow!  I'm finally getting over my nerves and starting this blog!  I should begin by introducing myself.  My name is Quilt...ok, my real name is Shannon and I live in CT with my husband and our two dogs.  I work as a cancer researcher and run home quick like a bunny at the end of the day to start sewing as soon as possible.   It's a sickness but I cannot stop quilting!  The best way for you to get to know me is for me to just start posting and showing you my quilts.  So here goes...

This week I met my new niece (via the magic of the interwebs).  I made this quilt for her a few months ago and shipped it down to my sister just in time!  My niece's name is Katarina and the prints for this quilt are Laurie Wisbrun's Tufted Tweets with those cute little birds (I heart Laurie and I super-heart these prints!) - so I named the quilt "Kat and the Canary"

I modified the 6-minute circle...mine were more like 60 minute ovals...  The ovals were to mimic the pattern from the Birdie Dots print and the 60 minutes were because I'm slow and had trouble using a glue stick!  I used scraps to make a cute little pieced back. 

The quilting was inspired by the stitching on Smidgebox Design's peek-a-boo storage bins, which I first saw on Laurie's blog.   I basically traced each oval about a bazillion times (ok, I might be exaggerating a little - perhaps it was closer to 5 times) and connected them with lines that I traced over approximately a half-bazillion times (and then I added some smaller ovals in between)...it was really fun to quilt this one.  I had some hesitations when I finished the blocks, but the quilting really brought it together for me! 

Well, I hope you like quilt #1 -  I'll continue posting a mix of completed projects and WIPs in the coming weeks!

~ Shannon