x-plus - the last of the longarm week quilts

I know it's been a while, but I finally have little enough to share for the past week that I can reveal the last of the Longarm Week quilts without overwhelming you!

This quilt started out in late December last year as I prepped for an early January retreat with friends.

I raided my 2.5" squares and then moved on to my stash, managing to get all I needed for 49 blocks from just my stash of greens, greys, blacks and off-whites.  (And, for the most part, you can't tell they're gone - uh oh!)

Of course, I had help!

To start, I had planned a smaller quilt, but after deciding I didn't want to have wide borders, I added another round of blocks and ended up cutting a second set.  But I had plenty for all 49 blocks (making a 7x7 layout) and left for retreat with sets of fabrics pinned and ready to sew

These take a while to make, but it was a good mostly-mindless project for a retreat where gabbing is a main event!  (Also, eating chocolate...my in-laws had given the hubby and I a huge box of filled chocolates - way more than either of us could reasonably eat - and I took that with me.  Boy was that a hit to share!)

I put the first batch up on the design wall and they look pretty awesome.  The placement of color can really change the look of the block, but I knew in the long run it would all work out just fine.

I soon filled up the design wall (and blurred out my sewing friend because I don't have her permission to use her face!) and, other than a few that obviously need to be mixed in, it's looking awesome!

I came home with all the blocks completed, waiting for the design floor.

Unfortunately, it seems that photo has been lost.  (Or never taken?)  The next photo I have is from Longarm Week where it was undergoing a million little pokes to become a quilt!

I decided to just do wavy lines across the quilt.  I debated for quite a while about how to quilt this.  It was on the Rack of Shame, hollering, for quite a while and I just couldn't figure it out.  And then, when the day came, I thought "simple!" and away I went.

This process was not without difficulty.  Not the trouble like I had with the orange quilt and the tension and bobbin troubles, but I decided that, since I was doing simple straight stitches, my stitch regulator should be used.  It would make nice even stitches (my stitch regulator is super basic and has trouble keeping up with me when I stop and start a lot - I can do much better without it for that style of quilting!) and not cause me any trouble.  The problem?  How to turn it on and what stitch size to use!  I couldn't remember how it worked and had to consult the manual!  With that figured out, it took For. Ever.  And I was so bored silly by the first pass, I was regretting my decision.  Just walking it back and forth, varying the position a little as I went was mind-numbing.  And the quilt, 70x70" seemed never-ending.

But it did go fast.  The boring made it seem longer, but it did quilt out a lot faster than anything fancy.  And I didn't use that much bobbin thread, so in all, it wasn't the worst thing that has happened to me.  I do know, however, that this will NOT be a staple in my quilt motif arsenal!

The good news was that a quick finish meant an early start on binding!  And this quilt, like all but the orange one, had binding sewn down by hand (to absolute completion) before bedtime!

And there you have it, the finished quilt!

What's on the back?

Why this obnoxious, bright green print found in the sale room at my local quilt shop.  (I swear, I should just shop in that room because that's where all the good stuff ends up anyways...seems more often than not something I buy ends up there a few weeks later...guess my taste and that of other shoppers is vastly different?  But the owner likes my style!)

Quilt details:

Pattern: free tutorial here, inspired by this quilt

Size: 70"x70"

I bound it with green and grey binding leftovers, which made it fun and busted even MORE of my stash.  And the weather is starting to get cooler, so I've been able to start using some of these new lovelies!  Later this week we'll be heading up north for a few nights and it's going to be hard to decide which to take along to grace our bed (because, honestly, who wants a highly used, pilly, polyester bed spread when you can have a quilt?!), but we'll survive this decision, I'm sure!

The sewing room has been busy lately, just not too many photos.  I've worked ahead on the 100 blocks to get me through Saturday and since that last collage worked well, let's do that again!

These are blocks 77-83.  All of a sudden, this project seems to be chewing through my fabrics.  The bin seems to be getting empty quickly, but that's good!  I'm busting some stash and getting a quilt done.  But I will be glad to get these done.  They seem to be dragging on forever and I'm ready for a new project.

The remaining projects from my last post have not all gotten a lot of attention.  All of the "seeds" have been prepped and are ready for the road trip.  Jordan's quilt has been cut and sewing started - this one has gotten the most attention lately.  (That's where I'm headed next!)  The Single Girl quilt fabrics have not yet been selected and my pattern is lost in the mail (working on a replacement there), so I'm stalling there.  Maybe this afternoon?  Tiny stars have been continuing and Adrian's quilt has gotten borders.  Of course, no photos of any of this...too busy sewing!

To keep track of all of this, I ended up printing out some simple calendar pages and color-coding quilt-along dates.  They seemed to be here, there and everywhere, but nowhere easy.  The calendar seems a perfect option and I can put the pages in sight in the sewing room for quick reference.  (The quilt-alongs do have e-mails and instagram posts and whatnot to remind me, but this is a visual reference how they all fit together without relying on someone else to tell tell me!)

And with that, chores are done and it's time to sew!

Happy quilting,

Katie