Midnight at the Oasis QAL Archives - Color Girl Quilts by Sharon McConnell

25 May

Finished Quilts, Midnight at the Oasis QAL

Midnight at the Oasis Quilt Finished!

Posted by Sharon
14 comments

I have FINALLY finished this quilt! This one really seemed to take forever, mostly because I was slow getting the binding on. Last fall I hosted a Quilt Along with Jess (Elven Garden) in which we made the top for this. You can see all the posts for this as a Work In Progress, HERE. This is my first quilt that I have done free motion quilting on myself. In the photo below you can see the swirly pattern on the floral border, and the leaf and swirls on the churn dashes. It is far from perfect, but I am...

26 Feb

Midnight at the Oasis QAL, Work in progress

Work in Progress (still quilting)

Posted by Sharon
4 comments

Popping in with a W.I.P. I am determined not to let my Midnight at the Oasis quilt languish in Unfinished Quilt Limbo. In between piecing on my Bikini blocks for the Quilt Along, I am squeezing a bit a of quilting on this each week. I am loving this leaf pattern on the churn dash corners. I am still a total novice at FMQ, but it is true that practice makes it. If you are on the fence, go for it! Even though I am growing a bit more confident with the FMQ, my favorite is still the straight line quilting....

05 Feb

Announcements, Giveaway, Midnight at the Oasis QAL, Sponsors

MATO projects and winners!

Posted by Sharon
5 comments

Did you check out all the great projects linked up for the finale of the Midnight at the Oasis QAL? all great! Thank you to all who joined in. I have winners: Maureen: you won a fat quarter bundle of Acacia (blue color way) from Fat Quarter Shop Mary-Clare: you won a fat quarter bundle from Sew Me A Song (Mary Clare, please email me so I can send your contact info to Sew Me A Song) Jo: you won a $25 gift certificate to Polka Dot Tea Ladies, the shops will be contacting you to claim your prizes. If you are in the market to...

31 Jan

Midnight at the Oasis QAL

The Grand Finale! Midnight at the Oasis

Posted by Sharon
8 comments

Have we really been working on this quilt for four months?! I have seen lots of really pretty examples and want to thank those that sewed along with Jess and me. Today is the day to share your quilt! I am still quilting mine, but have some fun pictures. Remember when I posted that this is the quilt where I overcome my fear of FMQ? Well, it has worked: just plunged in, and I am thoroughly enjoying it! did a bit of swirls over the flowers…far from perfect, but I like it. a little leaf and and twirl over the churn dashes....

24 Jan

Midnight at the Oasis QAL

One More Week: Midnight at the Oasis Quilt

Posted by Sharon
26 comments

I love it when my mom comes to visit me. We get to spend lots of time sewing together, enjoying each others' company, and she often brings quilts to show. Today I am sharing her Midnight at the Oasis top. She brought it with her to turn in to my local long-arm quilter. We have one more week in the Quilt-Along! I did a bit more quilting on mine tonight, but I am waiting until next week to show. I am really excited about it! Remember last time I posted about being afraid of FMQ? not anymore. I am just...

17 Jan

Midnight at the Oasis QAL, Work in progress

2014 Goal #1: overcome fear of FMQ

Posted by Sharon
25 comments

My first goal in quilting for 2014: overcome my fear of free-motion quilting. I have only been quilting my own quilts for about a year. Before that, I always paid someone to long-arm quilt them because I was afraid of ruining my hard work. Last year, I started doing some basic quilting, straight lines and using the decorative stitches on my machine (essentially just quilting with my regular sewing foot) as well as my Sashiko machine. I took a huge risk and decided to start my goal on my Midnight at the Oasis Quilt. I practiced a bit on a small...

03 Jan

Midnight at the Oasis QAL, Patchwork

Midnight at the Oasis: a finished top!

Posted by Sharon
17 comments

wow! has it really been three months? this is the last link up before our final quilt finish party later this month. I just added the last border to my Midnight at the Oasis Quilt, and I am pretty pleased. I have to admit it was a bit touch and go for a minute, and I got to be good friends with my seam ripper…but it came together. If you like mitered corners like I do, check out my tutorial (not as scary as you might think). You see, I started out making the courthouse steps blocks like the original pattern....

19 Dec

Midnight at the Oasis QAL, Patchwork, Sponsors

Midnight at the Oasis Progress, and: to wash or not to wash?

Posted by Sharon
12 comments

finally finished the checker border on my MATO quilt! although the green and blue don't contrast a whole bunch, I really love the scraps in this. I started the courthouse steps blocks, too, and I am so excited to be so close to a finished top! Our next link up, hopefully with finished tops, is January third. If you are sewing along with me, go to this post to link up your progress. Today I want to give a big "thank you" to the kind fabric shops who have agreed to sponsor prizes to the Quilt Along participants… The Fat Quarter...

14 Dec

Midnight at the Oasis QAL

Midnight at the Oasis: can you say tiny pieces?

Posted by Sharon
3 comments

Win, win, winner time!Thanks for the fun this week. I have enjoyed every single comment on my "polka dot bikini" quilt. I might have the kindest readers ever. I wish I could give everyone a copy of the pattern, but I did only choose two, and the winners are…Caroline (visit her blog at lalinsocal.com)Sarah (visit her blog at berrybarndesigns.com)The success of this quilt has given me such encouragement and confidence to try more in the way of quilting and designing… thank you so much to all who shared on social media and took the time to write a nice...

29 Nov

Midnight at the Oasis QAL

Midnight at the Oasis: Churn Dash Border

Posted by Sharon
14 comments

Wow! I just barely got this finished to post this week. Those churn dash blocks take some time to piece, but I think they turned out really cute. *to see previous posts, or if you want to join us, visit the QAL page here* I decided to go with the soft blue background for these to balance all the navy blue in the previous borders. I also wanted to try something a bit different by emphasizing the pieces of the block in a different way, adding the pink and orange strips to form squares. Something I have noticed about myself as I...