Harrington & Hannah

"The Adventures of Harrington & Hannah" was a block-of-the-month offered by The Raspberry Rabbits back in 2012 (the quilt is currently offered as a downloadable pattern through Craftsy).

I finished it over the summer and finally got some pictures of it last week. Woo!

This is the first time I have worked on a quilt that incorporated wool. The wools in this quilt were purchased from The Raspberry Rabbits and were just lovely to work with, as were the gorgeous Valdani embroidery threads used for all of the applique.

All of the quilting was completed using Auriful 50/2 thread. Three colors were employed: "Pale Flesh" (#2315) in the blocks, "Sandstone" (#2370) in the sashing, and "Bark" (#1140) in the outer border.

I love how well the quilting shows up on the back!

So while I was making this quilt, I started calling it "The Bunny Quilt." However, I actually already have a quilt by that name. As a result, this is now "The Bunny Quilt (2)." I feel like I should subtitle it "The Reckoning" or something. Ha!

There is just something about calendar-style quilts that really appeals to me. Love them! And I'm super happy to have this UFO finally completed. Now I just need to figure out where to hang it!

Right now...

There's a number of things I want to blog about, but I am feeling overwhelmed at where to start. Since I have to start somewhere, here is what I've been doing this week:

Here are a few quilts that need binding, including my Raspberry Rabbits BOM, a quilt for Little Bear, and my Framed Coins (which I finished quilting on Sunday, 6/29). Okay. Technically, I've not actually been doing any binding this week, but this pile has been weighing heavily in my mind. I really need to just. do. it.

Anyway, after all of the intense quilting my Framed Coins, I needed something quick and easy-- a palette cleanser:

I threw this together on Monday, from cutting to basting. It is the "Playpen" design from the Me & My Sister Designs book, Crazy for Baby. Now it is ready for quilting.


After getting the baby quilt put together, I was ready to jump into something new:

A triangle quilt! The Sassy Quilter's Triangle Quilt Along caught my attention back in April, but I just wasn't ready to join in at that point. But triangles have remained on my mind, so I've finally started in on one. I used Julie Herman's Hex N More ruler to cut 4.5" equilateral triangles and Electric Quilt to help me figure out how many I needed. The print fabrics are all from Patty Young's Sanctuary collection from Michael Miller Fabrics that came out a few years ago. The solids are Kona cottons in Glacier, Medium Gray, Spring Green, and Bahama Blue. I've pieced all the rows and am now working on joining those rows together.

Now I am off to squeeze some limes. We're making margaritas. Woo! Happy Independence Day!

September wrap-up

I am still kind of in disbelief that tomorrow is October 1. September just flew by for me! But it has been a good month. Back-to-school went very smoothly; the new schedule is finally starting to feel "normal" (as opposed to crazed); and I managed to meet my September crafty goals for Carrie P.'s Nothing but UFOs Challenge! Woo!

1. School bag for Little Bear:
   
   
   
   
   The bag was complete just in time for back-to-school (blogged).
   
   
2. Harrington & Hannah:
   
   
   
   
   Not only did I finish the top, but I managed to get it basted. Yay!!!
   
   
3. Spring Mystery Quilt:
   
   
   
   
   Completed and blogged!
   

It feels good to check things off the list. Many thanks to Carrie P. for the continued inspiration and motivation!

September goals

Another month, another set of goals for Carrie P.'s Nothing but UFOs Challenge!

1. School bag for Little Bear:
   
   
   
   
   It is cut and ready to be sewn. Preschool starts on Monday for Little Bear, so this project is top priority!
   
   
2. Harrington & Hannah:
   
   
   
   
   All the blocks are complete (yay!). Now it is time to put them all together, add borders, and get a backing made. It would be a bonus if I could get it basted too... we'll see.
   
   
3. Spring Mystery Quilt:
   
   
   
   
   This one needs to be basted and quilted.
   

Frankly, this month's calendar already looks insane, so I'm not sure how productive I'll be. But I am still feeling the pull of my UFOs and really want to keep progressing as much as I can while the motivation is still there. And I'm actually starting to feel like it might be time to get going on something new too, just to mix it up.

One Thing, One Week Challenge: Catch-up edition

This last week, Amy at Amy's Creative Side hosted another One Thing, One Week Challenge, and I decided to take the plunge and commit.

This time, my goal was to catch up on my Adventures of Harrington & Hannah block-of-the-month.

I needed to finish April, and then complete May and June. That worked out to about 2.25 blocks (because April was all done but for the sashing). And I did it!

April:

May:

June:

I really wanted to be caught up before the next block is posted, so this challenge came at a really good time. And I love that I've finally been feelin' the handwork again lately. Woo!

If you have the chance, check out some of the other inspiring challenge finishes for the week over at Amy's Creative Side!

More bunnies!

I've completed a couple more blocks in the happy "Adventures of Harrington & Hannah" BOM from The Raspberry Rabbits. This is such a fun project.

February:

March:

And I have April's all prepped and ready to go! Now I just need to find some time for a little bit of handwork.

A new project!

A couple of weeks ago, I celebrated my 38th birthday. Woo! And there were presents. Double woo! The one I am most excited about though is this one:

My husband ordered the wool and Valdani floss kits for me from The Raspberry Rabbits shop so that I can participate in their new (free!) block-of-the-month program, Harrington and Hannah! After taking a wonderful wool applique class last fall, I've had my eye out for projects that incorporate wool, and this is one that I'm really excited about. The first two blocks have been posted so far, and they are so cute!

I immediately got to work on my first block, and put the finishing touches on it today:

This is a little different from the techniques I learned for wool applique in my class. This project suggests fusible web and a running stitch. I found it challenging (especially on the layered areas) to actually stitch all the way through the background fabric (the wool is thick!). Hopefully I caught the background fabric sufficiently that the pieces will all be secure. Between the stitches and the fusible web, it's probably fine. In wool applique quilts, does one usually quilt over the wool too? I'll need to start paying attention to the quilting when I see wool quilts in shows/shops.

I'm looking forward to block two!