Kaffe Shot Cottons + Wool Batting = COZY!

I loved this quilt the first time I ran across it on Pinterest. I was lucky enough to find a kit from a online fabric shop so I didn't have to track down the shot cotton striped fabrics. Here it is before it was quilted.

And who doesn't love a log cabin quilt?

This was originally going to be for a newlywed niece when I first made the top, but I so loved the quilt and decided it had my name on it instead of hers. Plus it's not very big -- about 60 inches by 60 inches, so really not big enough for a wedding quilt. (But no worries, I finally gave Emily and Jaren their quilt on Thanksgiving and will share it in another post.)

I finally quilted the Kaffe log cabin quilt a few weeks ago. This quilt was my first one in which I used wool batting. Wow, I love how the quilt drapes with the wool batting. It was also only the fourth quilt I did with HQ Pro-Stitcher without the watchful eye of one of the Handi Quilter educators.

I've learned that it is an art to pick a digital quilting motif that complements the quilt design -- a motif that truly makes the quilt and doesn't detract from it. And I really feel that the design I chose works so well with this quilt. It's also a great example of pairing a curvy quilting motif with an angular, geometric quilt.

Of course, with the solid fabric on the back, you can appreciate the quilting motif much better. The design is one of the 1000 designs included with HQ Pro-Stitcher. It was designed by one of the HQ employees, Cathie Zimmerman. I'm sure I'll use the design again on a future quilt because it has good movement, is simple, yet very effective.

I used a neutral gray color 30-weight cotton thread that worked equally well on the front and back of the quilt.

Not that I needed another quilt for myself, but this is truly one of my all-time favorites.

 

Taking Inventory

So, do you know how many quilts you've finished? What about how many tops are waiting to be quilted? Or even how many projects (UFOs, WIPs, PIGs, etc.) are in progress? Now add in the kits and BOMs that you are hoping to get to one of these days.

Well, over the weekend I updated my inventory and now know why my sewing room is in total disarray! Here are the stats:

Finished quilts: 88 finished quilts, 27 of which were for my book Triple-Play Scrap Quilts, many were gifts to family and friends over the years, but sadly many are in piles throughout my house.

Unquilted tops: 33. This number is actually down by five over the past two weeks as I've quilted five tops since I now have HQ Pro-Stitcher added to my HQ Avante.

Kits and BOMs: 41. Now this was a shocker! My sister just started quilting. Maybe I need to share some with her.

And finally the WIPs (works in progress), UFOs (unfinished objects), and PIGs (projects in grocery bags): 20! In my defense, four of the 20 have all of the blocks done. I need only sew them together.

Now, add to this my fabric stash and I could probably make more than 150 quilts from what's in my sewing room. YIKES!

But the good news is that I am continually making progress --  whether's it's working on the underway projects or getting quilts finished. I even gave away a quilt on Saturday. A very belated baby quilt. The baby is now 2 years old.

The quilt photo above shows a close-up the quilt made with Hello Luscious by Basic Gray for Moda. I quilted it using a digital circles design by Nancy Haacke of Wasatch Quilting. I had a cone of Aurifil veriegated thread that they so generously donated to all of the attendees at Handi Quilter's Academy a couple years ago. The cone itself was kind of ho-hum. But it was fabulous when quilted! And it went so well with the fabric.

Two-year-old Piper didn't quite know what was going on, but her older sister Hadley is always ready to pose for the camera.

Here's another pic of the quilt:

The other finishes are being bound (thanks Mom!). I'll share them as I get them back from her.

I'm on a roll. Hoping to finish several more over the next few weeks.