Flora Charm Quilt

Last week I finally put the binding on this quilt made with Lauren and Jessi Jung’s Flora.  I used two charm packs I bought at the LQS and supplemented what I needed with solids from my stash and the border fabric purchased at Hancock’s of Paducah during an online sale.   The finished size is 61 x 77 and the pattern came from the book Simply Charming by Moose on the Porch Quilts.  It is one of the first books I bought and think it’s so great for a beginner.  I’ve made 3 of the patterns in the book since I first started quilting.

I had a little trouble deciding on the binding.  The fabric I purchased online looked more greenish than yellow, and I wasn’t happy with the look.  So, I put the quilt in a pile in my sewing room for a week or two while I decided what to do.  I almost purchased the green lattice print from this collection since I have a thing for striped binding and the lattice is the closest thing to stripes in Flora (there are no polka dots either).  But my practical side won out and I ended up binding it with leftover fabric from the border.  I like!!!  And it was free!  The backing is a striped sheet from Target. 

My fmq is getting a lot better, and I completely machine-bound this quilt using Kaelin’s machine binding tutorial.  I have done it a couple of times, but this is the first time it’s turned out nearly perfect.  It literally took about an hour to make and attach all the binding.  How cool is that???

I really love Lauren and Jessi’s style and color choices.  I have a massive cache of “Hideaway” and I can’t wait until their new line “Birds and Berries” comes out.  Here is a preview courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop.

I love how the colors are similar to the other collections, but I really am excited about the purple added to the mix.

I am linking up to Quilt Story today. 

Endings and Beginnings

Last week I finished up two projects:

This mini quilt for a challenge.

Backed with a pretty plaid from the Aunt Edna DS Quilts line.

And this little skirt for my daughter who only wears skirts and dresses.

We saw this cute Little Lisette ice cream cone and popsicle fabric at Joanns and I had grosgrain ribbon and pink pindot fabric to coordinate.

I even put in a little label (first time so go easy on me!).

Then over the weekend I dumped out my scrap basket and got started on a new challenge.

Those scraps became a pile of squares.

And the squares became a star!  This is a pattern I bought on Etsy.

I am not sure about this project.  Using different fabrics is always a challenge to me.  I kind of like the way it looks in the photograph better than in real life.  What kind of background fabric should I use?  Dark blue?  Black?  White?  Help!

I am linking up to Fabric Tuesday on Quilt Story.