I'm early, I'm always early

In March I issued a new challenge to the members of the TVMQG ~ A Charm Pack Challenge.  Most modern quilters don't use many pre-cuts, like charm packs or jelly rolls; so I thought a challenge was called for.

The challenge is due at our September meeting.  Mine is really now because I never leave anything to the last minute.

For the quilt top, I used 6 Cookies & Cream 40 Karat Gems charm packs from Wilmington Fabrics.  I like that half the squares are white and half are cream.  They all have a subtle white on white print.

I grabbed a handful of my favorite colorful scraps and make an odd shaped triangle on one corner of each charm.  When I laid them out my only concerns were alternating the white and cream square and having the triangles touch.  I didn't care if they co-ordinated, I just wanted a butterfly-ish shape.

For the quilt back I had some gray Lizzie House that didn't get used in another project, so I used it here.  The binding is one of my favorite blues, Kona Windsor.  I always keep it on hand and I just reordered it.

The quilt measures 54' square.

May your bobbins always be full,

A couple of finishes

I started this quilt top last Saturday and finished it on Friday.  I used 6 charm packs of Cookies & Cream by Wilmington Prints and lots of scraps!

One of my guild members called this an Improv Butterfly Quilt; I guess I'll go with that name!  I really love how it turned out.

A couple of close-ups of the Butterflies. 

I also did a quick project, birthday gifts for my granddaughter Erin and her new husband Jaimie.  Jaimie is a firefighter and Erin is studying to be a nurse.  These are quick, but I took longer than the 15 minutes that the tutorial claimed! 

I've previously made several of these pillowcases; I recommend the tutorial by Leslie, The Seasoned Homemaker.  I usually make these to give as a gift to an older sibling when I gift a quilt to a new baby in the family.  I don't want the older children to feel left out.  In August, two of my bookseller friends are expecting additions, so I'll be making four more pillowcases in the near future.

May your bobbins always be full,

Charm Pack Challenge

While I've been President of my quilt guild, I've presented a new challenge every 6 months.  The goal is to encourage the members to "think outside the box".  Many modern quilters never use a pre-cut, with the exception of Fat Quarters.  So this time it's the Charm Pack Challenge.  You can read about it here.

I decided to use white on white 5" squares.  The charm pack is called Cookies & Cream by Wilmington Prints.  The packs have 24 charms each and I bought 6 packs; if my math is right I'll end up with a 54" square quilt, or a 49" x 58" quilt.  I'm planning on using scraps in the 2nd photo to liven up the quilt.

The Challenge isn't due until the September meeting, but with my busy life, I thought I'd better get it started and off to the LAQ.

May your bobbins always be full,