Solstice

I almost couldn't believe it, but apparently I made the quilt top for Solstice more than 5 years ago! It felt like I had made it much more recently than that, so that's kind of crazy.

Solstice is designed by Rebecca Bryan, and this was part of a quilt-along that I joined. I was enamored by the color scheme, which looked like a sunset explosion.

I knew for a long time how I wanted to quilt this, so there was no hesitation once I started, and it was just a matter of actually doing it. I wanted the star in the center to be highlighted by geometric designs and lots of straight-line designs.

The solid background space of course has to be filled by swirls. I didn't want the background to take any attention away from the star in the center.

My opinion has always been that print fabric quilts have the soul in the prints, but solid pattern quilts don't have soul (no matter how beautiful) until the quilting is added. I haven't changed my mind about that, but I'm happy that now the soul has been added to Solstice! I really love it.

Cosquilla and Dogwood Pouch

It's official ... I'm slowly but surely replacing every store bought bag or pouch in my house with something handmade. There is simply no comparison to the joy and pride I feel seeing something I made myself, in the fabric of my choice, every time I use it. While making bags is frequently no picnic, and there are usually a few hairy bits in the process, it's all worth it when it's finished, and I can use it for a long time.

The Cosquilla Pouch is a combination fabric / vinyl pouch that has 2 compartments, and I plan to use it for my travel toiletries bag. I love the fabric I picked out for it so much, and the quilting on the bottom and side panel gives it some great texture.

The second pouch I finished is the Dogwood Pouch. I have many pouch patterns, but what drew me to the Dogwood Pouch is the pattern hack: an optional tool wrap. I had been using the Enigma Pouch to store my makeup, and while it works great, I realized I wanted a smaller makeup bag for just the bare essentials, and the tool wrap is perfect for makeup brushes and such.

As always, the patterns and video workships are by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. Sara is basically my Yoda on my bagmaking journey.

And of course, the final stitches are barely completed for a day before I start dreaming about my next bag project ...

North Star

I originally intended to quilt North Star last year, but December was such a busy month for me that I did not end up having time, and in a way I'm glad, North Star is one of my absolutely favorite quilts (a 5-star for sure) that I would not want to rush!

Both the fabric and pattern is by Libs Elliott, featuring one of my favorite collections ever by her, Tattooed North. This was a very easy and pleasant sew because it's basically a quilt consisting of half-square triangles. I absolutely love the pops of the gold fabric, it makes this quilt truly shine!

My vision for the quilt is simple: keep to simple geometric designs in the stars, and quilt pockets of more dense swirls for some added texture and specialness.

I assigned a design to each block and executed it consistently, but the quad-star blocks definitely made things more interesting!

I really love the effect of the pockets of swirls I added! I use swirls on 95% of my quilts, and they're without a doubt my favorite filler.

While the metallic fabric definitely caused some issues while quilting, when I look at the end result, I completely forget all the pain. I'm very much in love with the finished quilt, and I'm so happy to start the year with a 5-star quilt top!

Sweet Tooth ~ Is the Piecing Bug Back?

For the last few years, I was in a massive piecing slump. I used to flip through my pattern books, look at Pinterest boards, or stare at my stash, and just get so excited about piecing new quilt tops. But for at least a period of two years, I felt no desire or motivation.

And then, a few weeks ago, a switch flipped, just like that. I suddenly took a look at my Sweet Tooth quilt kit, something I thought was a torture device just a few months ago, and thought, wow, I really want to make this now!

Sweet Tooth is a Block of the Month quilt pattern by Jaybird Quilts, and now that I want to piece again, I'm having such a good time with this quilt! There are 24 of these hex blocks total, 2 colorways for each style, and they're truly enjoyable to put together.

After piecing the blocks, I had to put together all the background pieces. This part took concentration and I had to follow the pattern really carefully, but Jaybird Quilts is an excellent pattern writer, and the instructions were so good and clear.

At the end, a truly impressive looking quilt is finished! It looks complex, and it is, but it really wasn't hard, and I just had to follow the instructions. However, I'm still surprised it came out so well.

I just know this will be so fun to quilt too, when I get around to it (someday)!