Be The Good Quilt Finish

It's always good to finish a quilt, but I am going to miss working on this one. Every part of it was fun, from figuring out the design, to working with such awesome fabric (flow by zen chic for Moda), stitching up all the letters, and getting it quilted and bound. The best part was your participation in guessing what it was going to say. Thanks for playing with me as this project progressed.

See those feet. They belong to my teenage boys who deemed it pajama Saturday. Those feet are size 13 and size 12. The boys are 13 and 15. Kind of scary to think that they are both still growing. The good thing is big boys can hold up big quilts easily. I don't have the exact measurements for this quilt but it is almost square and somewhere in the 65-inch range.

The weather here is gorgeous this weekend. Couldn't resist a shadow shot.

I went with my original plan for machine quilting. There are four straight lines between each row of letters with wavy lines of quilting placed at random widths across the rows of letters. I like the result. Not too fancy and simple enough not to distract from the message on the quilt.

Did you ever have trouble writing in a straight line on the board when your were a kid? I did. It was always either going up hill or down hill. There is some of that in this quilt, too. If you look closely at the second row, "THERE" has some up hill quilting going on, especially over the letter T. It is just extra charm for this quilt.

The back is a solid burnt orange. It was a piece that had been hanging around in my stash for a while. Originally, I considered a pink binding but pink and burnt orange were not going to work together so I picked a lime green Moda Marble instead. I love it when I can use up stash to finish a project. The thread used throughout the quilt is a light gray Aurifil 50 weight. It was perfect to blend where it should and contrast where it should.

There are seven different filler blocks throughout the quilt, all simple combinations of half square triangles. A tutorial is available over on the Moda Bake Shop for the filler blocks.

Thank you Moda for letting me play along with your Spell It With Moda celebration.

I think I am going to take this quilt to work and hang it in my office for a while so I can remember this message every day.

Spell It With Moda - Be The Good

Spring has definitely sprung here in the sunny southern United States. The forsythia in the backdrop have already started greening up. Hopefully, there will be yellow flowers for a few more days.

Did you figure what it said before today's post? If not, the secret is out now. And it was great fun playing hang man with you. If you have been following along, you might notice that I completely changed out the BE THE GOOD. I wanted it to stand apart and it just wasn't when I was using a color for the background and a light for the letter.

I wasn't a big fan of mixing up the background colors either. This is much more consistent and not nearly as distracting. The filler blocks, which I'm calling confetti blocks, turned out good, too. They are simple half square triangles arranged in different ways. I have a tutorial for the Confetti Blocks over at the Moda Bake Shop so please go check it out and leave a comment, too, if you'd like to.

Now it's time to start thinking about how to quilt this. I have been pondering it while piecing it and can tell I am going to overthink it if I'm not careful. Right now, I'm considering horizontal lines, some straight, some wavy, thinking it might sort of imitate a piece of lined notebook paper. We will see.

The fabric collection used for this project is Flow by Zen Chic. It should be arriving in shops this month.

Remember, if you'd like to make something of your own, the letters are available individually on Moda's Pinterest Board.

Or, if you want a quick resource with everything in one place, check out the Spell It With Fabric booklet available at many local quilt shops and online stores. I did a quick Google search and found some great resources for purchasing the booklet.

Linking up with Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Spell It With Moda - What Does It Say?

The post for filler blocks went up over on the Moda Bake Shop last Saturday. Some solutions to the puzzle were posted so the secret is out. Here is where we are this week. I won't post the answer officially until next time. A V, a D, and a G have been added. It's a bit hard to see up on the design wall so here it is hangman style.

B  ___  ___  I  ___  V  E

T H  ___  R  E

I  S       G  O  ___  D

___  N       T H E

W  O  R  L  ___

These letters have been guessed and either there aren't any or all that are available have been guessed:
 H, R, S, T, M, B, W, V

Let's take a closer look at the fabric used in this week's letters. The fabric collection is Flow by Zen Chic. It should be available at your local quilt shop or favorite online shop this month.

First we have a V.

V up close.

A D with a pretty blue background.

Letter D up close.

A very psychedelic letter G. I'm still not sure the letters that have color in the background are staying. The contrast is a little more subtle that I wanted, but I have decided to keep going until all the letters are complete, and then decide.

Here is letter G up close.

Remember, if you'd like to make something of your own, the letters are available individually on Moda's Pinterest Board.

Or, if you want a quick resource with everything in one place, check out the Spell It With Fabric booklet available at many local quilt shops and online stores. I did a quick Google search and found some great resources for purchasing the booklet.

I just got back from doing some work travel this week which is why this is a little later than usual getting posted. The next post about this project will be to reveal a finished quilt top. Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, and played. I have had a great time with this project.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts. Also linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Spell It With Moda - A Growing Project

I had to move this project to the wall this week. It outgrew the table once I started sewing the blocks into rows. Do you know what it says yet? I think some of you figured it out last week and the letters added this week help a lot. The additions are B, O, and W. To help see what it says, here it is in more hangman style:

B  ___  ___  I  ___  ___  E

T H  ___  R  E

I  S       ___  O  ___  ___

___  N       T H E

W  O  R  L  ___

These letters have been guessed and either there aren't any or all that are available have been guessed:
 H, R, S, T, M, B, W

The tutorial for the filler blocks is not up yet over at the Moda Bake Shop. All of the participating quilters will have posts for their filler blocks. The schedule is still being worked out and I will let you know when mine is up.

Let's take a closer look at the fabric used in this week's letters. The fabric collection is Flow by Zen Chic. It should be available at your local quilt shop or favorite online shop in March.

First we have a W.

W up close.

A blue O. I know I have said it in previous weeks, but I really like the colors in this fabric collection. They are so cheerful.

O up close.

And last for this week, letter B, which is one of those reversed letters with the color in the background.

And a close up of letter B, using my favorite print from the group.

Remember, if you'd like to make something of your own, the letters are available individually on Moda's Pinterest Board.

Or, if you want a quick resource with everything in one place, check out the Spell It With Fabric booklet available at many local quilt shops and online stores. I did a quick Google search and found some great resources for purchasing the booklet.

So... do you want to guess letters, or are you ready to solve the puzzle? I am up for either. Thanks to everyone who has played along. This has been lots of fun and helped me pace myself through this project.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.

Spell It With Moda - Getting Closer

Wow, we're getting close to solving this puzzle. Fifteen letters have been revealed with our Spell It With Moda project. Only thirteen more to go. This week we added an I, an O, and an L. To help see what it says, here it is in more hangman style:

___  ___  ___  I  ___  ___  E

T H  ___  R  E

I  S       ___  O  ___  ___

___  N       T H E

___  ___  R  L  ___

These letters have been guessed and either there aren't any or all that are available have been guessed:
 H, R, S, T, M

Did you notice that the business card place holders have been replaced by colorful filler blocks. There will be a tutorial about those coming up soon over at the Moda Bake Shop. I will be sure to let you know when it goes live.

Keep those comments coming! It won't be too many more weeks before this quilt puzzle will be solved. Let's take a closer look at the fabric used in this week's letters. The fabric collection is Flow by Zen Chic. It should be available at your local quilt shop or favorite online shop in March.

First we have a yummy orange I which completes the word "is" in our puzzle.

I was very excited to be able to make this project from this fabric collection and the more I sew with it, the more I love it. The bright colors are fun and festive and just make me want to smile.

Another one of those inverse letters, where the letter fabric and the background trade places. I wonder if those letters have any special meaning?

A close up of O surrounded in pink.

And last but not least, letter L, which has to be the simplest letter to sew out of the bunch.

And a close up of letter L, using the orange fabric that looks like a relief map.

Remember, if you'd like to make something of your own, the letters are available individually on Moda's Pinterest Board.

Or, if you want a quick resource with everything in one place, check out the Spell It With Fabric booklet available at many local quilt shops and online stores. I did a quick Google search and found some great resources for purchasing the booklet.

There are lots of other quilters sewing along with the Moda Bake Shop 7th birthday celebration. Head on over to their blogs if you'd like to see what they are up to.

Amanda Castor  {materialgirlquilts | blog: materialgirlquilts.com}Jemima Flendt {tiedwitharibbonquilts  | tiedwitharibbon.com}Jenn Nevitt {mommysew | mommysew.com}Lisa Calle   {vintagemodernquilts  | vintagemodernquilts.com}Oda May    {modabakeshop | modabakeshop.com}Samantha Olsen {samanthaleeolsen}Sharla Krenzel {thistlethicketstudio | thistlethicketstudio.com}Susan Ache {yardgrl60}Terri Ann Swallow {terriann | childlikefascination.com}Vanessa Goertzen {lellaboutique | lellaboutique.blogspot.com}

So... what letters should we try for next week?

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.

Spell It With Moda - Making Progress

Twelve letters have been revealed with our Spell It With Moda project. This week we added an H, an N, and an R. To help see what it says, here it is in more hangman style:

___  ___  ___  I  ___  ___  E

T H  ___  R  E

___  S       ___  ___  ___  ___

___  N       T H E

___  ___  R  ___  ___

Those three letters made a big difference. We have one completed word and three words that are only missing one letter. There is still one word that hasn't even been started and two others that have a long way to go. There aren't anymore H, R, S, or T so don't guess those for next week. Remember, if you ask for a letter and there is one, I'll give you one. There may be more, but they won't show up until they are asked for again.

Keep those comments coming! It won't be too many more weeks before this quilt puzzle will be solved. Let's take a closer look at the fabric used in this week's letters. The fabric collection is Flow by Zen Chic. It should be available at your local quilt shop or favorite online shop in March.

We have an H in what I like to call comma fireworks green.

Next up is an N. I was a little worried about the stripe going different directions but I think it just adds to the funkiness.

Nothing like an N with personality.

Our last letter for this week is R.

Green is my favorite color and this particular green is at the top of the favorites list.

Remember, if you'd like to make something of your own, the letters are available individually on Moda's Pinterest Board.

Or, if you want a quick resource with everything in one place, check out the Spell It With Fabric booklet available at many local quilt shops and online stores. I did a quick Google search and found some great resources for purchasing the booklet.

What letters should we try for next week?

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.

Spell It With Moda - More Letters

There has been some progress with our Spell It With Moda project. Three more letters have been added as requested in last week's comments: T, T, and S. To help see what it says, here it is in more hangman style:

___  ___  ___  ___  ___  ___  E

T ___  ___  ___  E

___  S       ___  ___  ___  ___

___  ___       T ___ E

___  ___  ___  ___  ___

I'll be happy to take requests for next week's letters, too! Let's take a closer look at the fabric used in this week's letters. The fabric collection is Flow by Zen Chic. It should be available at your local quilt shop or favorite online shop in March.

First, we have an inverse T. The color is the background rather than the letter. The blue is a combination of a linen look and a grunge look. I like it.

I don't have every detail of this project worked out just yet, and one challenge is that there was not enough in one jelly roll strip to make the complete background for this block. There is supposed to be one more strip on the right side and bottom of each letter. We'll see how that one works itself out.

The next two letters both come from the pink fabrics in this collection. I really like the pink. It is more of a hip, modern pink rather than anything that comes off as overly girlish.

S is the most complex letter sewn so far. It wasn't bad. There were just more parts to keep up with.

More yummy pink in the letter T.

Remember, if you'd like to make something of your own, the letters are available individually on Moda's Pinterest Board.

Or, if you want a quick resource with everything in one place, check out the Spell It With Fabric booklet available at many local quilt shops and online stores. I did a quick Google search and found some great resources for purchasing the booklet.

What letters should we try for next week?

Linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.