WIP: Aerial Grove (top is finished!)

Oh, man.

I am super excited to share my finished Aerial Grove (pattern from Savor Each Stitch) top with you today. Well, to be fair, the top is a little bigger than these photos indicate. I was at a little weekend retreat, and I didn't have just the right fabric to finish. But this is most of it, and I love, love, love how it turned out!

I started this two years ago, in February of 2016.

I attended Carolyn's Quiltcon workshop, and then slowly stitched my way through the squircles. This quilt feels like me, although the neutral background is a stretch! The squircle fabrics and strips that they are stitched on, though = pure Jacey.

I intend to figure out a quilt back quickly, and add this to my quilting queue (which is nearing the double digits. yikes!).

Hooray for hand stitching, and an enjoyable process!

FO: Star 1934

Last July, I started this project with great momentum.

But you know how it goes. I finished the english paper piecing, and then set it aside until I figured out my background fabric.

Fast forward to February, and I picked the background/appliqued my piecing.

I'm embarrassed by how quickly I finished the piece; I should have done it ages ago.

It was supposed to be a birthday gift for my mom. She loved it, late or not, and I guess that's what matters.

Details:

pattern: Modified Star Blossom from Rachel's handstitched class.
Fabric: Circa 1934 on a Kona Nightfall background, bound in Kona Ochre
Size: I forgot to measure, but we'll go with approximately 15" x 21".

I straight-line quilted after applique (partially to secure any poorly attached seams, since I am still new to the applique game) at a slight angle. I wanted to keep it, but I know my mom will give it a nice place to live in her new home.

FO: Ella's Bohus Pillow

Looking for the giveaway post? Here it is!

Now that Ella has received her giveaway pillow, I can share it with you all! In her comment, Ella mentioned red, mulberry, mustardy brown and linen. Based on these colors, and from reading her blog, I had a pretty immediate vision of what I wanted to make. I remembered seeing the Bohus Pillow in a copy of Stitch Magazine (Summer 2011 issue). My only problem was that I didn't want Ella to have to buy a circle pillow form, or to make one. So I modified the design to be square.

Really I just used the templates Stitch provided, and improvised the rest.

I used some 1001 Peeps for the center star and the back pieces, and some Essex Linen for the background. The burgundy and mustard pieces are from the stash.

I hand quilted around the center piece with some Perle Cotton, and then machine quilted the rest.

This is an especially exciting project for me because it's my first time to use pebble quilting. You can tell where I started, in the top center. The stitches there are not quite the right tension and are a little messy. As I worked my way around, I could see and feel a difference in my stitching. I was floored when I finally started getting the rhythm of free motion!

When I finished, I had to really take a step back. This pillow is so much different than my normal style. In the end, I love it. I got to practice some unfamiliar techniques, like applique and free motion quilting.

I hope Ella loves her pillow!
I still have the third contest pillow to make, for Virginia. Hopefully, I'll have that to share before the end of the year, or in early January!