Welcome to the Jungle Quilt

Welcome, little Jungle Quilt, to the land of the finished projects!

When I wrote out my list of Finish Along (FAL) projects in April,
I stumbled across this work in progress.

At that point is was only a pile of strips and squares.
To be honest, I wasn't even sure what pattern I had planned on sewing.



By the middle of May the top was mostly pieced, but a long way from done.

That photo is prime late night cell phone quality, too. Yowza! Thankfully that's history...

With the 2nd quarter FAL deadline looming, I decided to kick my rear into high gear.

Here it is all quilted, bound, washed, and crinkly!

This quilt was my first attempt at free motion quilting on my new machine. Not bad for a first timer, right? I played with a few options, including the knee lift and the 'cruise control'. 

What I learned: 

- The knee lift is awesome 

- Pre-wind a ton of bobbins
- I am not a fan of fmq'ing with gloves on

- I need to practice, practice, practice curves

Some curves had those dreaded 'eyelashes,' but others were right on.

 The quilting pattern was simple, but it provided just the right level of challenge.
 And I even went on a limb with those corners, by improv quilting a squiggly fan.

I'm sure that's the technical description for that shape. Yup. 

Even though it wasn't complicated, it was scary going for those curves with no real plan.
Looking at it now, I'm glad I went for it! No risk - no reward, right?

An unplanned but cool effect is that the quilting sort of disappears into the stripe where the quilting was parallel to the print.

It sort of creates an illusion of a basket weave, see it?

Sure, I only have two finishes this quarter, but I feel like a champion! 

Quilt Stats:

Name: Jungle Quilt
Size: 32"x 36"Fabrics:  Stash
Binding: Stash
Pattern: Quilts for Kids
Quilting: Free Motion Quilting - Lines and Curves 
Completed: June 2014

"But wait, Annaliese, I only see one finished quilt here, didn't you say there were two?" 

That's correct. I am so excited about both finished quilts, that I think each deserves their own posts. 

Keep an eye out for my 2nd finish this quarter (teaser: I may have fallen in love with wonder clips and machine binding on it..)

Linking up this finished quilt to the 2nd quarter FAL party here.

Happy Quilting! 

Making a list

Katy's opened up the 2nd quarter Finish-A-Long! I work best with deadlines, so I'm excited to give myself a boost of motivation with this link-up. Ironically enough, tomorrow is the deadline for posting our proposed finish list, and here I am, getting in right under the wire! So proof positive - deadlines work!

Even as I write this list, I know I'm being over-ambitious. But if you know anything about me you know that is kind of my style. I have captured every single one of my started projects. Let's see how much I can get done in the next 3 months! It was a bit of a reality check to see how many there are. 

Small projects-

1. Monkey QFK-

This baby size quilt is destined for Quilts for Kids and it is so close... it's quilted so now all I need to do is put on binding!

2. Duck QFK-

This one is also destined for Quilts for Kids. Obviously it's not as close to finished but since it is a small project I think we can whip this out before the end of Q2.  I'm already thinking about how I want to put that maybe a modified Baptist's fan? Hrmmm, we'll see.

3. Turtle QFK-

Are we seeing a theme here? Top is pieced and needs to be basted.

4. Jungle quilt-

Pieces are cut and pinned, but I can't remember what the pattern was so I need to so some math before I can make real progress on this. 

5. Scrap-basket strip quilt-

I started this one as part of a block swap and have just sewn the last 20 6.5" blocks needed to get to this size. I don't know yet if it will stay with me or be gifted, but I do know that I want to try some free motion quilting on this one. Before I can do that though I'll need to pick out some backing and binding fabric. I pulled a black and white polka dot hoping I could calm down the crazy, what do you think?

6.  Halloween Table runner-

I ran low on the black fabric, got frustrated with the borders being too small to piece and stalled out this project. I will just bite the bullet and seam rip off the offending black border. The nice thing about this is even if I don't get to it before the end of the 2nd quarter, I'll have time to still get it done for the holiday.

Big projects-

7. The maroon and orange one-

That's a pretty unexciting name for one that I like so much... what should I call it?? These blocks are sewn, squared, and ready to go! I need to start joining rows. I haven't done so yet because some of the white strips in the middle are varying in widths and it will take a little bit of finesse to get things lined up. Thankfully now that I have a design wall I can lay things out without crawling all over the floor. So, no excuses, let's get this one done this quarter! 

8. Sister's grad quilt-

This is basted and has been since February.  I need to conquer my fear of wrestling this bad boy under my domestic machine. Well, sister graduated last May so it's seriously overdue.

9.  Anniversary quilt-

This is the biggest, hardest and most sentimental project on my WIP list. I've got quite a few more blocks to piece to get it to the planned queen bed size, and they are time consuming. But the result is so worth it! Hoping to get this done this summer, get it to a long-armer and enjoy it for our 4th wedding anniversary in August. We'll see...

10. Made in Color-

 Started as part of a quilt-a-long, I ran short of some fabrics in the fuschia colorway, and set it aside. Two more points to go before I can piece the background.

11. Across the sea

This was my first QAL! I got to the point where I needed to add the last and had to pack up to move. That was 2 years ago. Oh I am a compulsive quilt staller... is there a support group out there for us?!

12. Sisters quilt-

My sister and I picked up fabric for us to make matching quilts (same colored strips, but different neutrals). I am still in love with the idea of us having different but similar quilts, that we work on together. Our strips our cut, but the sewing has yet to happen. Sorry about the terrible cell phone photo. Trust me when I say those prints are CUTE!

13. Mod mosiac bonus quilt

I'm piecing these improv blocks to use up scraps. Since this is a 'bonus' quilt I am not putting the pressure on to finish it this quarter.  I'll put it here though to keep me honest when I get tempted to start something new.

Sheesh! I better get cracking!