Quilt Top Finish... but which one?!?

I finished a quilt top!!!... it might come as a little bit surprise, but can you guess which one? 

I was able to make a good amount of progress on my "planned creativity" goals during our summer vacation time, and since I've been working on THREE quilts at the same time, there's about a 33% chance at guessing which one is now a finished quilt top... so, what's your pick?

1.) The "Swell" quilt? 
2.) The "Facing East" quilt? or
3.) The "Scrappy Windmill" quilt?...

If you follow me on Instagram, then you might have a pretty good idea already, but if not, how about a little hint?... the quilt top is the smallest of all three quilts that I have been working on, and it's the one I started last!?!... dromroll, please for my Scrappy Windmill quilt top!

The fact that I had decided to make a baby quilt, which was smaller than the orginal version, really helped things come together so quickly. (wow, can you believe that I actually decided to make a quilt smaller instead of making it bigger?!?) The paper piecing seemd to whiz by, not to mention that I had already gotten a lot finished before I left for vacation. What actually felt like it took the longest was peeling all those papers out of the back once it was all put together! NOTE: this is the point where I discovered the BIG downside of paper piecing.

On my Facing East quilt I just charged through without completely reading through the part of the directions that said to leave the paper in until the blocks are sewn together... it was only first on this pattern that I realized that little, but important detail! On one hand, I understand that leaving the paper in helps keep the shape of the block together nicely without stretching the design, but I have to say, that peeling the papers out of the seams was just downright UNPLEASANT!

I had actually tried peeling the paper away from the outside edges of the blocks before stitching them together, but this was also not the best solution. I did notice a slight difference, and I probably could have pulled it off, but decided to stick with the "if it's not broke, then don't fix it" rule. I also tried shortening the stitch length, but from my opnion, it didn't exactly make a world of difference with the paper removal either. Hmmm... definitely some things to think about before jumping into another paper piecing project!

Size: Finished quilt top size approx. 50 x 60 inches (ca. 125 x 150 cm)
Fabrics: Kona Cotton White, Lizzy House, Heather Ross, and other various scraps
Backing: Planned pieced backing with bright prints, waiting for batting
Pattern: Scrappy Windmills by Judith Dahmen as featured in Issue 10 of Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine

They say that hindsight is twenty-twenty... do you have any "the picture is clearer" after-the-fact stories to share?

 Linking up this week to WIP Wednesday, Let's Bee Social, and Scraptastic Tuesday.

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Progress

Before I left I was actually able to make a good amount of progress on my Scrappy Windmill quilt and am debating back and forth on whether I should make a smaller version for a baby quilt. It's actually not because I've lost steam, but becasue I think that with so many fun and sweet prints that this would be adorable wrapped on some snuggly, little bundle of joy. I had also thought that this would be a fun "I spy" quilt... can't you just imagine being tucked in with a cute toddler searching together for cats, strawberries, foxes, trees, glasses, crickets, clothespins, frogs, cameras, tiny mice on bikes, snails, tea cups, hedgehogs, birds, and more?

I've still not decided if I will keep the brown blocks in or not, but because I had them made up, I kept them in for the photo. I'll of course need to add a few more blocks even for a baby size quilt... what do you think? With enlarging my currents WIP's it might also be nice to finish something a little smaller instead. Speaking of my other WIP's... remember that little stack of snippits I had? Well, take a look at them now:

As crazy as it might sound, I actually liked working on three different projects at a time. What about you, do you work on multiple projects at once or do you stick to one thing at a time?

Linking up this week to WIP Wednesday, Let's Bee Social, and Scraptastic Tuesday

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