BluePip Designs

I started the year with grand FPP plans: I would finish up the Rainbow Blossom FPP quilt that I started back in January 2019 and then immediately start work on the new  Under the Sea FPP quilt . Part one of this goal went great; the Rainbow Blossom quilt was finished in January and even used one of the filler blocks from the Under the Sea quilt to tie the two quilts together! Once that was done, I got to work on the Under the Sea quilt.  This was a six-month quilt-along with two new patterns a month, but I decided to make it a year-long quilt-along, piecing one block a month starting in February.  I figured I would make a double block one month and everything would work itself out.  So much new year optimism!  I did start the quilt in February, and today I'm sharing my full progress for the end of the year: seven out of twelve blocks. I didn't set off to neglect the third column of this quilt, so it made my chuckle when I put this outline together and there was...

After sewing all day, including in some small gaps between running kids to events (10 minutes is long enough to pin a long seam or do a little ironing.  Normally not worth it to me, but when I'm on deadline every little bit helps!) my Kinship top is done! A basement photo after dark isn't the best indicator of the true colors, but I did take this one earlier today in natural light to show my mother-in-law the super skinny sashing I used between my rows - it finishes at only half an inch!  I don't think I've ever used such a tiny sashing on a big quilt before, but I wanted to keep the green as an accent, not a feature. Cheers to my last-minute finish of  my monthly goal for February !  The pattern is called Kinship and it was used in the 100 Days 100 Blocks quilt-along hosted by Gnome Angel in 2022 .  The layout is my own and I'll talk more about it when the quilt is completely finished.  For now, I'm linking up my successful finish at Elm Street Quilts !

  This corner flip was a beautiful accident.  I wanted to show how close I was to finishing the binding, so I flipped the corner back and it landed exactly like this.  For once, no further fussing was necessary. My January OMG was to finish the top of my Rainbow Blossom quilt , baste it, quilt the background, and get the binding on.  I went above and beyond and the whole quilt will be finished by the end of the month!  I could have finished the binding before I took this photo, but I like having handwork to do in the evening while watching television so I am going to save that for tonight. My original plan was the quilt the background around the pieced elements, put on the binding, and then come back to finish quilting the colorful bits when they were stabilized by the background quilting, but after the top was basted, I couldn't resist starting with that pink seashell - I could see how I wanted it quilted in my mind and it seemed silly to wait. I like to take ...

Our snowy January weather (including an e-learning day) has been the perfect excuse to stay inside and sew.  I'm enjoying the quieter days and getting a lot done!  I wish I could have taken my finished quilt top photos outside, but with roughly 18" of snow on my deck it's just not possible right now. My postage stamp quilt !  This quilt top is huge and turned out exactly as I envisioned it.  My 5'9" son is standing on the left and the bottom is still dragging on the floor (his little brothers are standing on the couch to hold their parts up).  I've ordered some flannel to go on the back and when it gets here my longer quilter is going to baste it for me. I'm planning on straight-line quilting it myself, but I don't have the pins or space to do the basting.  My son has already claimed this for his bed! I had all the blocks for my Rainbow Blossom top finished in December, so all that was left was to sew them together.  This one is a more manageable size...

One of my 2022 goals was to touch every single one of my WIPs*.  The year is almost over and I was five projects away from this goal at the beginning of the month.  Some of them had been untouched for so long, they were practically at UFO status!  My November mission was to look at each of them at least once.  I'm going to go through them in the order I pulled them out. Rainbow Blossom (January 2019) My first untouched project was practically finished. It only needed two more text blocks, maybe a filler block, and a little bit of assembly. I already had the fabric picked out for the next block, so starting here was an easy decision.  I made my "twinkle" block and did a little assembly to set it in where the yellow fabric is laying in the photo above. I still need to make the "create" block and I'm stumped on which fabric to use.  Kristy also posted a teaser picture of one of her new patterns for the nex...

This was a great quilting month for me!  It started with the release of my  Bernie's Mittens quilt pattern, followed by the completion of one of my oldest WIPs.  It ended with a pair of mini quilts from my own pattern, as well as a couple of finished flimsies! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 14 WIP List at end of month: 14 Untouched in 2021: 7 Active QAL Projects: 2 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Gypsy Wife (August 2017) - One of my oldest WIPs! Twin Mug Rugs (February 2021) Quilts Started Mother - I was sad when I got the last set of instructions for the Morewood Mystery Quilt, but thrilled when Instagram suggested this quilt pattern to me.  A mystery quilt with curves?  There's no way I could say no to that!  It actually started in January so I was able to make the first two blocks, Health and Plant Life. I took this photo indoors during the extreme cold snap we had at the beginning of February.  The blood ...

Cold, snow, and a solid school routine meant plenty of time for sewing this month!  I took full advantage and not only created two quilts from start-to-finish but also pulled out some old friends to work on.  Maybe there is hope for my WIP list in 2021! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 14 WIP List at end of month: 14 Untouched in 2021: 8 Active QAL Projects: 1 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Giraffe Love (January 2021) Bernie's Mittens (January 2021) - I don't have a finished picture of the top yet, but here's a sneak peek at the flimsy and the fabulous long arm quilting that was done on it.  This is my newest pattern and will be released later this week! Quilts Started Nothing I didn't finish! Quilt Progress (6 WIPs touched) Rainbow Blossom - This block actually will go on the back of my Rainbow Blossom quilt as part of the quilt label, but I had all the fabric and just really wanted t...

Happy New Year!  Posting a little later than normal because I was rushing to finish Snowflake all day today! Goal #1: Get my WIP List Under 10 WIP List at beginning of month: 15 WIP List at end of month: 14 Untouched in 2020: 4 Active QAL Projects: 1 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Joy (December 2020) Snowflake (November 2020) Quilts Started Joy, but I finished it! Quilt Progress (4 WIPs touched) Morewood Mystery Quilt - I caught up on the teal blocks I skipped last month and added the gray blocks (60 of these!) for this month. Kid sewing!  My 8-year-old made the final block for his quilt!  It took him just under four years to make nine blocks.  I told him if he lays it out and picks sashing I'll sew it all together for him.  At this point, we both just want it to be done. Blocks made for both my memory scrap quilt and leaders and enders quilt. Goal #2: Give...

The year is almost over and it was time to buckle down and make some progress on my first goal. I got a boost early in the month from my virtual quilt retreat - I ignored my family and just concentrated on sewing for an entire weekend. And when the retreat ended, I just kept sewing! Goal #1: Get my WIP List Under 10   WIP List at beginning of month: 17 WIP List at end of month: 15 Untouched in 2020: 4 Active QAL Projects: 2 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Adventure Quilt (January 2020) Big Top Quilt (July 2020) Chalk Stars Sample Quilt (October 2020) - Secret until spring! Quilts Started Snowflake quilt ! This has been on my to-make list since I first saw it last year and it was finally time to make one up.  I couldn't participate in this year's quilt-along because I was working on Camp Stars and Chalk Stars, but now that those are done I got right to work.  I didn't do mine in the order of the quilt-along anyway so maybe it's better that I just did it o...

 As promised, I'm back today to share the results of my at-home 2020 retreat, completed safely from my sunny sewing room!  The first official Zoom call was Friday evening, but I treated all day Friday as a retreat day.  First, I finished machine-sewing the binding to the front of my Big Top quilt - doing the hand-stitching was my Zoom call handwork.  By the end of the weekend I was about halfway done sewing it down.  This is a full-size quilt so I am very happy with my progress! I also did my first round of masks (adult-size ones) and laid out my adventure quilt blocks so I could see what the final round would look like.  After the meeting, I made the last two blocks and first thing Saturday morning I sewed them all together! I spent the rest of the day Saturday working on my Plaidish quilt.  I knew finishing it was a long shot, and I was right.  I made 15 pink blocks and got the dark rows sewn together.   The rest of the retreat was just sma...

Happy Halloween!  October was a very productive month for me.  I finished two quilts in five days (not on purpose, but still a rush!) and did a lot of fun small projects.  The early snow and cold is definitely a contributing factor to my increased sewing time. Goal #1: Get my WIP List Under 10 WIP List at beginning of month: 17 WIP List at end of month: 16 Untouched in 2020: 4 Active QAL Projects: 3 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Quarantine Cut (April 2020) Camp Stars (September 2020) Quilts Started Chalk Stars quilt sample (my other new pattern). Quilt Progress (4 WIPs touched) Morewood Mystery Quilt - Irish chain units added - can't wait to see how all these little bits are going to come together!  I didn't share a picture last month so here are the September and October blocks together.  The yellow and pink blocks are scrappy but the teal blocks are all identical. Adventure Quilt - Assembled the three-part units and made the September ...