Texture

A charm pack from Craftsy called Boundless 1930s Revival had me checking out the Moda Bakehouse for precut recipes where I found the one above.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with FMQ designs to create a lot of different textures on the surface of the quilt.  I don't think all of them worked, but I'm pleased with the experiment.

I'm linking up with Busy Hands Quilts

Palate Cleanser

This fall I had two back to back commissions that used lots of red and black.  

Before I dove into the second one, I decided to do a little baby quilt with bright colours just for a change of scenery.

The centre of each of these blocks is 4.5".  The strips around them are 2.5"to make an 8.5" unfinished block.  It was fun to dip into my "strings" or "strips" drawer to make the entire quilt.  Even the binding is made up of small scraps.

I'm linking up to Free Motion by the River

Butterflies

Last week my older daughter told me that her teacher was expecting and could we . . . (she gestured towards my "in case of baby" quilt stash).

I was all about giving her teacher a quilt, but I saw an opportunity to veer off my self imposed to-do list to do something that's been in my brain for a while.

Grandma gave me these flowers and butterflies already cut.  I have no idea where they come from.  There are a few butterflies that we didn't use that celebrate Saskatchewan's 50th year as a province.  That was 1955.  I have no idea if all the fabric is from the 50s but they definitely appear to be vintage.

I sandwiched a top without butterflies and quilted a diamond pattern with 6" parallel lines using a walking foot.  Then we placed the butterflies and I FMQed over them using a darning foot.  The edges of the butterflies were snipped so that hopefully they will fray really nice and soft when the quilt is washed.

The Small One gave this quilt to her teacher this week.  The teacher's older son has asked if he could keep it.  I suppose that means they like it :)

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and She Can Quilt today.

Grandma's Nine-Patch

When Grandma send me more of her orphans, I knew I needed to play with the 9 patches she sent.  Even though I wasn't going to start any new quilts this year.

I've decided it doesn't count because I've already finished it!

This is a small quilt - only 30 x 30.  I made one of the blocks so I'd have enough.  The green one is mine.

I used a walking foot to quilt this baby.  I think it only took about 2 hours!

I'm linking up with One Monthly Goal - This is my April Goal

String Theory Part I

String Theory is a quilt I started in 2015 after I had a work shop with the wonderful Bill Kerr.  He had some interesting thoughts on neutrals and their place in a colourful quilt and off I went making blocks so I could test his theories.

Along the way somewhere I discovered that all those string blocks created a lot of movement and stretch and after something didn't measure properly I put it in a box.  My version of a temper tantrum.

Size:  35 x 42

Fabrics:  I have a drawer of strips.  I was hoping to put a dent into them, but it's impossible to tell that I was in there at all except that they are messy now.

I wanted to do a series of String Theory quilts with different neutrals, but I'm going to have to change the design because this didn't turn out to be a lot of fun.

My favourite part of the quilt is the big stitching I did in red.  It's mostly invisible on the front side, but adds a lot of fun to the back.

This is the first of nine that I want to complete for 2017!

Linked up with she can quilt

Flamingos

This quilt was a definite squirrel.  I was given a bunch of solid cotton poly blends so I took a minute or two from what were top secret pieces at the time and played.  Two tops were made that I then put away for a more appropriate quilting time.

This quilt is about 40 inches wide by 46 deep.

The quilting was also an experiment.  I practised for weeks on all available paper surfaces until I was less scared and plunged in.  My inspiration was a pattern by Threaded Quilting:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lhVpsnBr8

It was also probably my first time quilting in a thread that was absolutely going to show.

Note to self:  Learn quilt blocking.  The quilting made it all warpy so I had to cut a bit off the last line to put it back into square.

Flamingos ended up in the "quilts for missions" category because after it was done, there was an opportunity for it to go to a little girl locally as part of a Christmas campaign through the Salvation Army.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The Lion Sleeps Tonight started with a graphic I saw on the internet.  It was from THIS website.

I separated all the parts and pieces and printed four full sized prints (48 x 36) to use as templates and maps.

The first map was just for the background.  Then I made a monkey.  From the start, the goal was to not use fusible or interfacing.  Instead, the bottle of starch got a workout.  It worked well.

Lots more animals followed.  Eyes, mouths and tiny pieces were the only bits that had fusible on the back.

The grass was fun.  It was cut at random and sewed down to the background at the bottom of the fringe.

Once the background was done, the whole quilt was sandwiched together and the animals were pinned to the top.  Using a walking foot and a darning foot, the animals were thoroughly quilted to the sandwich.

This is probably the most fun I've had making a quilt.  Start to finish, it was a big adventure.

Welcome to the Geek Side

Finally, a finish!  This has been something I've been working on mentally for a while, figuring out the logistics of it without having to piece or use loads of fusible or applique by hand. 

I had practice doing this quilt on another project that I can't post quite yet.  It involves lots of starch and a prepared sandwich.

First I quilted the entire sandwich.  With Star Wars quotes, don'tcha know?  I cut out pieces, folded them under a quarter inch (sometimes using a fabric glue stick) and ironed them to give me a nice crisp edge.

Then the applique pieces were layout on top, pinned ruthlessly and quilted to the sandwich using both a darning foot and a walking foot (depending on piece size).  Some of the more complicated bits were sewn together first (like the grey eye) and then sewing onto the quilt.

As the newest Star Wars movie just happened to come out, it was easy to find flannel backing that continued the geek theme.  Really, though - I would have preferred something "A New Hope" themed.  Ah well.

I Love Scraps Mark III

This quilt happened because I had leftovers from a baby quilt I made late last year.  This layout has become somewhat of a favourite.  This is the third time that I've done a variation of it.  Since I normally consider making the same pattern twice boring, I would have to say that this one really works for me.  The first time I made it was HERE.  The second time was HERE.

I quilted this one with my walking foot as well - with three different colours of thread.  The binding is completely scrap using the same fabrics.  I still have a little bit more.  

It bunched up a bit - a little like an accordion.  I have to assume that this was my fill choice speaking.  I'm pretty sure I used a fluffy poly fill.  I should try it again with a more dense batting.

A friend told me that this kinda looked like a colouring book.  That's a much better name than I Love Scraps Mark III.

Note to self:  Research blocking

I Love Scraps Mark II

Pattern:  N/A

Size: 30 inches square

Date:  January 2016

Reason / Fabrics:  My Aunt gave me a fresh box of scraps - instead of sorting them by colour into my drawers, I immediately started using them as leaders and enders while I sewed "I'm Blue" ( to come to a blog near you soon).  It worked really well and really quickly.  It wasn't long before I had these blocks.

It is quilted with my walking foot.  It has a little blue marking pen on it still - that will come out when I wash it.

Seriously - who needs a baby quilt?  Any showers in your future?  Can I mail you one?  I'm pretty sure I have at least ten, perhaps even a dozen baby quilts hanging about my house. 

Welcome Baby

Date:  September - December 2015

Pattern:  Wonky Crosses

Reason:  A new baby in the family!

Fabrics:  Most of the fabrics were a gift from my sister.  I took one look at the bundle and said "You're really trying to push me out of my comfort zone, aren't you?"  Yikes.  Fabrics with more than ONE colour in them.  Eek.  Yes, I'm a monochromatic girl.

I added a couple dots from my stash.  I LOVE dots.

Thoughts:  I knew I'd make this pattern again.  The first time was here.  It's a fun and easy top because the blocks are improvisational and just need to be squared up when they are done.

Lessons Learned:  Find out of the recipients are going to be close by in the near future before shipping a package to another country.

Cabin in the Woods

Date:  January - September 2015

Pattern:  www.craftsy.com  Inspired Modern Quilts

Reason:  Part of a class in modern quilting

Thoughts:  I can't say that I love this quilt.  I've done better improve.  I do like the floating blocks, though and need to play with this concept.  I enjoyed the FMQ.  I also played with straight line quilting with a walking foot. 

Lessons Learned:   It's okay to not be thrilled with the outcome if you learned something along the way.

Purple Irish Chain

Date:  May 2015

Pattern:  Traditional Irish Chain

Size:  30 x 30

Reason:  I accidentally made 9-patches when I meant to make 4-patches (rolls eyes)

Special Fabrics:  White sheet, purple left over from God's Promise back

Lessons Learned:
  1)  Don't cut and sew on auto-pilot
  2)  Feathers aren't as scary as they look

Thoughts:  The circles are hand quilted, the lines were done with a walking foot, the corner feathers were done with a darning foot.

Wonky Crosses

Date:  January - April 2015

Pattern:  www.craftsy.com  Inspired Modern Quilts

Reason:  I love modern quilts.  I wanted to know more about their construction, thus the course.

Best Buys / Special Fabrics:  All from my scrap drawers. 

Lessons Learned:  It is better to trim down a little more and create a bit of waste than to have a finished cross that is too small!!

Thoughts:  The husband asked me to finish this one for the baby of a friend of his.  I think I need to make another.  It was fun.

Baby Hexis

Date:  April 2015

Size:  30 x 42

Pattern:  n/a

Best Buys / Special Fabrics:  The hexis were a gift from a friend.  The grey was a gift from a sister.

Lessons Learned:  Don't assume gifted pre-cuts are the same size (I do this often.)

Thoughts:  This is my first finish of the year (beside ten potholders).  I have MANY tops waiting to be quilted.

I love the simplicity of this quilt - it took a weekend to make because I laid the hexis on top of a quilt sandwich and quilted them in place.  The edges will fray beautifully in the wash.  I really want to do this again with different shaped fabrics - squares and/or rectangles.

It is quite likely LBCQ will be doing a show at the library again this fall.  I'll save this for the show.

A Blessing for Ruth

Date:  July / August 2014

Pattern:  From my head:

Block A:
~  Make crazy quilt blocks and cut them to 6.5".
~  Sew 2.5" strips of white to the crazy blocks
~  Sew 2.5" strips of a colour that matches the crazy block to the white
~  Square block to 10.5"

Block B:
~  Make crazy quilt blocks and cut them to 8.5"
~ Sew 2.5" strips of white around the crazy block
~ Square block to 10.5"

Size:  37 x 47

Reason:  A new baby in our church

Fabric / Best Buys:  All the fabric used was scraps and gifts except for the borders - I took those from my stash.  The binding was a pre-ironed binding given to me by my Aunt.

Thoughts:  I love this pattern  I used it for the first time here.  I've been wanting to use it again ever since.

Lessons Learned:  I finally got up the courage to stitch text into the quilting.  It went really well and fit perfectly  (Numbers 6:24-26)  I'm so excited that it worked.  I'll do it again on my next baby quilt.  It worked really well to run through the motions in my head that my hands needed to make word by word.  It kept me from getting overwhelmed and allowed me to keep calm and not rush.  Winner!

Teddy Bear-topia

This quilt was designed by my seven year old daughter.  She just assumes that whatever she dreams up I can do (insert super hero costume here).  The very first bit of piecing was a Curved Seam.  I've had very poor success with curved seams so to keep my sanity with this one, I cut the curve from the blue, ironed it under a ¼ inch and used a decorative stitch to sew it to the green.  Then I trimmed away extra green from the seam allowance under the blue.  It worked for me, but I doubt that's how they teach it :)

We used a graphics program to draw the bear then print it, cut it out and piece it back together.  The paper pieces served as our templates.

Note to self:  My background brown was not a whole lot larger than the lighter brown going on top of it - sometimes my satin stitches on the top and bottom layers overlapped.  Either design the background bigger or the foreground smaller. 

I didn't use a iron-on bond product for the larger pieces when I attached them to the background, but I did use interfacing - for the most part that went really well.  The smaller things such as eyes were glued on before they were stitched.

I used interfacing

Another note to self:  Cut background to size AFTER the applique has been sewn on.

Also - tractors are never green in my family's world.  Just sayin'

My daughter also picked all the fabrics and all the thread.  The red inner border was the last thing she picked.  I think it's fantastic.

The Small One also had me do trapunto.  She doesn't even know what that is, but the bear and the clouds have extra layers of fill - the belly has an extra layer again.  I used YouTube videos to teach me the ins and outs.

The whole reason for this quilt was the tie - here it is - the last piece of the puzzle.  Her cousin is due in September.  I hope s/he enjoys the teddy bear.

Date:  May / June 2014

Size:  36 x 40ish

Fabrics / Best Buys:  All these fabrics were from my stash.  The four patches were made from a Hoffman Bali Snap that I was given for Christmas.