Thursday, July 26, 2012

Marie's


Marie was the only person that got to choose her colours.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Cheryl's


Cheryl is a huge fan of light neutrals.  One day I'm going to try to do an entire quilt in ivorys and whites!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Purple


Date:  July 2012

Reason:  My sister's wedding

Inspiration:



Lessons:  I'm just starting to machine quilt, so this quilt clearly shows my progress.  I think I found the idea tension for machine quilting . . . once I was 90% done.  C'est la vie.

Thoughts:  I love this technique so much I have two baby quilts started using the same style.

This quilt also displays a lack of wavy edges!  Yahoo!!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Bunket


This was one of my first quilts.  I was 16.  I made it with my Grandmother.  All of the fabrics were hers. At bible camp that summer, everyone signed it the week I was a camper (I also worked at the camp).  For a couple years after that new friends signed the back.


I only remembered I had this quilt last week when our family went back to that same camp so my girls could have some of the same experiences I did.  

I used a Sharpie on it, but alas after *ahem 15 plus years* some of the names are faded almost completely away.  I think the type of fabric had a great deal to do with which names faded and which didn't.  There is everything from knits to cottons to denim to sweater material and everything in between.

It's one of the uglier quilts you will ever see and one of the quilts I'm most attached to.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Brenda's


My husband chose the cat print :)

Can anyone tell me what the star block is called?  I didn't take careful enough notes.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Tipsy Topsy


Date:  July 2012

Reason:  I needed a test quilt for new fill I am trying out.  A baby-sized quilt seemed the way to go.  Also, I saw Leah Day's modern quilt technique and thought it would be fun to put a "twist" on these traditional 4-patches (haha).

Special Fabrics:  Five of the blocks are from dozens and dozens that my grandmother has given me over the years.

Lessons Learned:  Finally, I think it's been established WHY I had such wavy edges.  Leah cautioned against putting too much strain on the edges and I've realized that I practically play tug-of-war to bind my quilts because I'm so close to done I can taste it.  When you add the fact that two of my waviest quilts had double machine sewn bindings, it's no wonder they looked rippled.

Tipsy Topsy looks much better.  Thanks so much, Leah!

Thoughts:  Although I didn't do the fabulous quilting method that Leah is teaching for this quilt, I definitely want to try it out because it looks amazing.

I'm already getting bored of the straight stipple so I need to think about how I can incorporate an all over quilt method to enhance the blocks, not just stitch over them randomly.

Also, I think a larger stipple would have looked better on this quilt.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Change Pad


Date:  2006

Reason:  I wanted a pad that I could change diapers on.  I wanted something warm and easily washable.

Fabrics:  I used leftover sweater fabric from the previous post (used inside out for softness) and denim from my very large collection.

Thoughts:  I modeled this after "Chinese Coins" but it obviously isn't done correctly.  Note to self to do a 'real' Chinese coins some day!

I wasn't concerned about making this square.  As you can see, I didn't even try.

Six years later, I am about to retire this pad as it is not needed anymore.  I'm feeling a little sentimental about that.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Leslie's Quilt


Date:  2006

Reason:  The boss of the place I was working wanted a quilt to commemorate the different shirts that the business had designed over the years.  This is my first commissioned piece.

Fabrics:  I used my own denim stash and the shirts that she gave me.  The dark blue corduroy that I used for the back was from the local warehouse.

Lessons:  This was early in my quilting life:  PREWASH FABRICS!  (It seems basic now).  The darker denims discoloured some of the tshirt fabics.

At the time, the walking foot was what I used for quilting.  It helped ease the way across stretch fabrics (i use a darning foot now).

Use thinner batting for a denim quilt.

Thoughts:  Remember to take a picture at the end!!!

I kept track of my hours.  It came out to 32!

Charge more next time.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Monday, July 2, 2012

MCC Rag Quilt

Date:  June 2012

A friend who works at our local MCC Thrift shop gave me some flannel that was donated to the store.  I made it into this quilt and it will either be sold at the store or sent overseas.

I've got tubs and tubs of denim still to use up so I'll likely be able to make another rag quilt with the flannel I still have.