Sew BitterSweet Designs

May Finishes Party – A Lovely Year of Finishes

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Melissa

Can you believe the year is almost half over?!? One more month and we will be there. May is supposed to be the month of flowers, but here in Washington state we are still experiencing Showers mixed with hail on some days. Luckily that hasn’t stopped my garden from growing along nicely! This month I picked my Swoon Quilt top to finish – it took me 17 months to finish the top as I started the first block in January of 2012. I’m very happy to cross this off my list, and looking forward to figuring out how I want to quilt it.

Here is a picture laying down on my lawn. This quit top is HUGE! We tried getting a picture with my hubby holding it…but he isn’t quite 80″ tall, but the colors look SO much better in this pic.

See how the colors pop in this pic? Next time I will get him a ladder to stand on! LOL

Your turn! Time to show us all what you have been working on! Remember, you can link up here or with Shanna over Fiber of All Sorts, no need to link up twice. Make sure you grab a button from the sidebar to let everyone know you are playing along, and try and visit at least 2 other people who have linked up and leave a comment, we all love comments!

No worries if you aren’t a blogger, you can link up your finished project from a photo you’ve added to our flickr group.

Shanna and I are excited to host this monthly link with tons of prizes!

To be eligible for May prizes you must have entered into the goal setting party.

**Please note, this is the same linky on both Shanna’s blog and here, so no need to enter twice ***

And let’s not forget the prizes from our amazing sponsors:

May’s Prizes Include:

1. Choice of $15 or 2 charm packs from Stitch n’ Giggles

2. Mini Dresden Flowers Pattern and Pieces donated from Paper Pieces

3. $25 Gift Certificate from Intrepid Thread

4. These pack of books from a local quilter Solar Threads

Find Becky on her facebook page here

PHOTO COMING SOON!

5. $20.00 Gift Certificate from the Quilting Lodge

6, 7, 8, 9 Will get one thread pack of Auriful Thread donated from Aurifil

10. $10.00 Gift Certificate from Contemporary Cloth

Posted in A Lovely Year of Finishes, Fiber of All Sorts, Swoon | 8 Comments

Bloggers Quilt Festival – Sew Intertwined

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Melissa

So this year you are allowed to enter TWO quilts into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy at Amy’s Creative Side, so I decided what the heck, I will enter a second. Make sure you check out my first entry here!

I wasn’t quite sure which quilt to enter, but at the end of the day I settled on my Sew Intertwined Quilt. You can read more about how to make you own here. I co-hosted a QAL for this quilt last year with Jenna from Sew Happy Geek. This is one of my all time favorite quilts that I have made.

I love this quilt because it is a somewhat traditional design – hello Dresden – but it also screams modern with the fabrics that I used.

I am entering this into the Home Machine Quilted Quilts category. I realize that it doesn’t have any fancy free motion quilting done on it but if you look at the the quilting on the back, you will see that I was able to mimic the entire design from the front onto the back.

I did straight line quilting in each section using the same color thread on the top and on the bottom. Hoping that thread color would pop on the back. As is my usual habit with backings, I used a high thread count muslin on the back. I actually plan to enter this quilt into my local county fair this summer, it will be my first contest and I’m rather excited about that!

Here is a close up of the back of the Dresden, you can see the pebbling I did in the center of the Dresden.

The plan for this quilt, eventually, is to give it to my niece. I’m thinking when she reaches a milestone birthday or when she graduates from high school. She is the first person I ever made a quilt for and I think she will really love this one too.

Sew Intertwined Stats

Finished Measurements: 60″ x 60″
Special Techniques: Machine Applique, Paper Piecing
Quilted By: Melissa Dunworth on a Janome Horizon 7700
Best Category: Home Machine Quilted Quilts

Have fun with the rest of the festival!

Posted in Sew Intertwined QAL | 9 Comments

Blogger’s Quilt Festival – Quilted Crossroads

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Melissa

This is my first time participating in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy at Amy’s Creative Side. Make sure you head on over and visit some of the other participants. There are so many incredibly talented people out there in blog land!

So the quilt I decided to enter I actually made last year shortly before my husband’s deployment to Afghanistan. I really felt like I was at a Crossroads in my life. He was leaving again (not by choice of course) and Anne and I had to figure out a new routine and life without him. Not an easy thing to do for a 2.5 year old. As I was playing in EQ7 one night this design came together and the quilt came together even faster.

I chose the colors teal and purple because they are calming and beautiful to me. They were the colors at my wedding and have always represented strength to me, something that the spouse and family members who stay at home during deployments need.

What I loved most about making this quilt was the fact that each night I worked on it, my husband sat in my sewing room with me and we talked and watched Mash re-runs as I sewed. It couldn’t have been more perfect (usually when I’m sewing he is off playing a video game).

I decided to keep with solids for the big version, though I did a wall hanging for Anne’s room of just 4 blocks (not set on point) and she has prints in her crisscrosses.

Here is a close up of one of the crosses.

I decided to do simple free motion stippling on my home machine in all of the background fabrics. For my backing I used a whole cloth, high thread count muslin. I love how soft muslin gets but most especially, I love not having to piece the back! And let me tell, the back looks really cool with the quilting.

This quilt just makes me happy. Many hours were spent snuggling underneath it with Anne while daddy was gone, and on mornings now when she gets up super early we still find ourselves cuddled together on her bed underneath it.

Quilted Crossroads Stats

Finished Quilt Measure: 51″ x 68″
Special Techniques Used: Block assembly from outside in
Quilted By: Melissa Dunworth (Myself)
Best Category: Favorite Throw Quilt

If you like this pattern and want to make one with your own special spin, I am happy to announce that it is now for sale on Craftsy.com at a special rate of $5.00. Please go here to purchase.

Thank you for visiting!!!

Posted in Quilt Patterns, Sew BitterSweet Designs Patterns | 24 Comments

3×6 Sampler Hive Test Block

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Melissa

I don’t know what drove me to do it…but I signed up for the 3×6 bee again. On top of that I signed up for 2 different hives! LOL I guess I just felt like I didn’t have enough going on.

When I do these bees I like to do a nice mix of my own original designs for blocks and then classic designs. For the Sampler Hive that I am in, I opted to design my own block. Here is the mock up:

And here is my test block.

I’m pretty happy with it, I like how it gives me the opportunity to show case 5 different prints and frames them beautifully. I’m think of doing this up as a tutorial…would anyone be interested? There will be 6 more of these made in the future.

Posted in 3x6 Bee, Bee Blocks | 14 Comments

May – A Lovely Year of Finishes Mid-Month Check In

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Melissa

How on earth did it already become the middle of May. I think that time is moving faster and faster each month. On Mother’s Day my little Anne turned 3.5, I was not ready for that AT ALL! Thankfully my 3.5 year old still naps! So that has given me plenty of time to work on my Swoon Quilt! Here are my last 2 blocks:

The bottom one is my favorite of the 2 but then I’m partial to that lovely red print.

Now Shanna and I would love to see how you are doing this month! This is not a mandatory link up, just a nice way to see where you are at and a friendly reminder that you have only so many days left to finish.

Please grab a button from my sidebar and link up. Remember it is the same link up on Shanna’s blog so if you have linked up with her, you don’t need to link up with me too