Garden Gate Quilt finished

This is one of those quilts that has been lying around for a long time, waiting to be finished. I had no urgency to complete it, as I started it after my daughter was born and I was hoping to hang it on the wall in her room.

I wanted to do something different for the quilting, so I took a cue from the gate and looped up into the top of each "gate", then back down, in a sort of figure eight.  Then I kept going to the next piece. To stabilize the quilt, I quilted in one direction, flipped it, then repeated in the other direction.  I think it worked well because the quilt lays pretty flat now. I later learned this pattern has a name! It is called "wishbone".

All that is left is to add a hanging sleeve and hang it up!  Although, when I left it out, my daughter pulled it off the chair and started laying on it.  It was super cute and made me think that maybe she might enjoy it as a blankie instead.  She has been enjoying laying on it for the last few months and I still haven't had the heart to put a hanging sleeve on it. It may happen some day, or maybe not!

Drunkard's Path Finished

I finished this particular quilt a while ago but didn't want to post about it until I had given the quilt to its new owner.  It was a wedding present for a dear friend.  She reports that she and her husband love it and it is the perfect snuggle size!

Overall:

 The detail shot:

 The backing and the lone extra block.  I found a few later but at the time this was the only one I had!

It measures 72.5x62.  I quilted it on my home machine. It was tough because of its size, but as I showed in a previous post, it was easier once I got my sewing cabinet. I think the next big one is going to be sent to the long arm quilter instead.

forest quilt finished!

I finished this quilt top at the Beaver Island Quilt Retreat in October 2010. It was inspired by a photograph of a carpet, but I found it ended up reminding me a lot of a walk in the woods. It is completely done improvisationally--I just started putting strips of different sizes on the design wall and came up with it.

Ebony got her long arm machine around the time I finished this quilt and had her "free quilting" offer, so I prepared it and handed it off to her.  She finished it much quicker than I expected, and so I've been leaving it around to finish binding for awhile now.  I finished this in March 2011 (before baby L).  It took me a while to blog about it!  The quilting Ebony did is fantastic.  It's hard to believe that she was "practicing" because it looks very professional. 

I didn't really have a plan for the quilt when I made it, but it turns out the my DH really loves the colors and the quilt in general, so it has made a good lap/napping quilt for him (we take a lot more naps now that we have a baby around!!!).  I see so many quilts and fabric collections on the internet, and I have to say I am always a little disappointed that there aren't more options that appeal to men/boys.  I know that you can take any quilt  pattern and change the color scheme, but finding inspiration for "manly" quilts is sometimes hard.  The same could be said for fabric collections--so many collections out there are very "girly" and although I love them, I think there is a lot of room for that area of the quilting fabric industry to grow. I'm actually pretty excited to hear that Amy Butler's husband David has started his own brand, Parson Gray, with all sorts of awesome fabric. There may be some in my future....

split rail fence

Here is another quick quilt I put together for a friend's baby.  You would think with all the baby quilts that I know a lot of people having babies.  This is true, and I would say I only make quilts for less than half of them!  I just can't make one for everyone.  Maybe this year I will make more baby items (bibs, booties, hats, etc) to make up for the fact that I can't make quilts for them.  We'll see.

Anyway, here is the split rail fence I made.

Not any official pattern, I just made a regular rail fence but added a row to the top of each unit.  I like how it turned out.  Hopefully they think it is gender neutral enough!

solid squares

I had a fat quarter pack of Kona solids and a bunch of Kona charcoal, so I cut up a bunch of 5" squares and got sewing. I had it basted and ready to quilt for over a month.  I finally got to it the last week of 2011 and then just finished the binding.

I love it and I hope that the baby boy who gets it loves it too!

baby fishy quilt

I had a package of 9 fish squares, so I turned it into this cute little baby quilt. It is pretty small (32"x32") but will be a nice blankie for baby (not mine, someone else's).

Excuse the wrinkles! It was folded up a lot.

deep breath baby quilt

At the CMQG retreat I finished this quilt top, so I wanted to quilt it as soon as possible.  I used the "Deep Breath" quilt pattern from Weeks Ringle available here. I ended up making it much smaller than the pattern calls for, but it still finishes pretty large for a baby quilt (54.5"*41").

It was pretty simple, I got to use some more scraps, and it's super modern. 

Plus I hope the blue hides stains well for the new baby.

 

I had originally planned for it to be bigger, so I had some extra blocks that I put together for the back.

I highly recommend the pattern if you need a quick modern quilt for any occasion.
**Edited to add--this is not for my baby--another friend is having a baby, so this is off to its new owner now!

first finish of 2011

I actually finished this last Monday, but I haven't had time to take pictures.  This is a disappearing nine patch quilt made for a friend having a baby (aren't they all, right now?).  I like making gender neutral quilts, even when the sex of the baby is already known.  I think it is just fun, playful, and colorful.



Here is the detail:



I wanted to have a little more than just a solid border, so I added a bunch of squares after having an inner border.



I really like the effect of continuing the quilt to the edge, yet calming it a bit with the inner border.
It feels good to check another one off the list! Not to mention it was fun as well.

Last finish of 2010

I can't believe I never wrote about this quilt.  My lovely friend Ebony is working on launching her line of patterns, under the name "QuiltPossible!" She is specifically focusing on making patterns that have rotary cutting directions as well as how to use your AccuQuilt Go! cutter as well.  I don't have a die cutter but I volunteered to be a pattern tester for the rotary cutting directions.  I've never tested a pattern for someone before.  I had a deadline to finish the top by September 30, which I did.  I found a small error in the instructions but luckily I was able to report back quickly. The quilt is a bowtie pattern and definitely out of my normal palette for colors.  Ebony said we could use whatever colors/fabrics we wanted, so the choice was all mine.  I feel like with quilt fabric, it is so easy to get stuck in a rut, always using the same colors, or at least all "bright" colors.

My DH really likes this one because he feels like it is more "masculine" than what I usually make. I am not crazy about the colors but I am still glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone a bit.

For the quilting, I decided to try something different.

 

In each place where the blocks come together, I made a free hand flower. Then I outlined each "bowtie" to add definition.  I really love how the quilting turned out.  It was a lot less wonky than I thought it would be!

What's really neat is how you can see the quilting on the back.

 

Very cool. It was definitely fun to test out someone else's pattern and give them feedback.  I've always admired the quilt tester (Laura Boehnke) from American Patchwork & Quilting--she does some great stuff using different color schemes to really help you see the possibilities of a quilt. Hopefully Ebony can use my finished quilt to give people an idea of the options.

finishing frenzy

I got a bug in my bonnet that I needed to finish some quilts before the New Year, so I finished two quilts yesterday.  Here is a quick one I put together with a charm pack of Hope Valley which I won from a giveaway.

The detail:

And the binding:

It's a baby quilt for my friend's little girl, due in March. Being that I am due in March as well, I am trying to get all the *other* people's baby quilts done before my baby arrives.  I know that I'll be a lot less able to move freely as the time gets closer, so anything I can get done in advance is great for me.

Happy New Year!   I'll be posting shortly on how I did on my goals for 2010, as well as what my goals for 2011 are.

Modern Quilt Challenge

As I mentioned before, I made a quilt to enter into the Modern Quilt Guild's Challenge.  You can read more about it here.  I really enjoyed making this quilt.  It was a stretch for me artistically--I made up the pattern myself, which I do sometimes, but this one I really planned out.  I also used a color scheme I NEVER use, so that was good to push myself.  Many people say that quilters are afraid of yellow.  Well, my quilt is all about yellow!

So here is the inspiration photo I used:

This is taken at a bakery in Lisbon, Portugal, called Pasteis de Belem (Belem is the neighborhood).  We went to Portugal for our honeymoon and it was fabulous--I highly recommend it! The bakery makes thousands of these little custards every day. The line is out the door, but it moves quickly.  We didn't know when we first got some that most people order them by the sleeve (of 10!).  We got 4 to start and came back for more. You have to have them hot, and you sprinkle a little bit of powdered sugar and cinnamon on them.  They are just heavenly!!!

Here is a picture of the inside of one.

Anyway, the original picture inspired me with the little circles against a dark background.  I abstracted them out and decided that 20 circles per block was about right. As I showed in earlier pictures, I cut out a bunch of circles of varying yellows and stuck them onto fabric using fusible web (Steam a Seam) and my trusty iron.  For the yellows I chose a variety to give it more interest.  Same goes for the greys--no two baking sheets are ever the same, so I found a couple different greys to use.  After sashing and sandwiching the quilt, I then stitched down each circle.  Some people would have done that before quilting, but I wanted them to end up a little "puffy" like the pastries they represent, so I opted for doing it all at once.  If it was a larger quilt I may not have had the patience for that.

I REALLY love how it turned out.  Even if I don't win, I am glad I made this quilt.  The process was incredibly worthwhile for me.  Not sure what I'll do with it next, as it doesn't really go with my house (at all) but a friend of mine moved to a new house and was thinking of doing her guest room in gray/yellow, so this might be a good housewarming gift.

finally another finish!

I don't know about you, but I keep a little spreadsheet of all my finished quilts, with a tab for WIPs/UFOs.  When I added this one, I was a little shocked/dismayed to see that last one I finished was in May.  :(  I'm glad to be back though!

This quilt I made from my scrap bin, so I'm proud of myself for actually using scraps. The green was something from my stash.  I had sewed some of the strips together when I headed out to Gwen's Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.  While I was there, I realized I didn't have enough green to do borders all the way around. Being that we were talking about liberated quilting, everyone suggested I just add cornerstones, and problem solved.

I'm really glad I did. They are quite liberated, plus I added some strips to get them to fit. But having seen all of Gwen's antique quilts, where people just used whatever they had, I knew that it would be just fine.  I quilted this the Saturday before the baby shower and finished sewing on the binding the morning of the shower.

The mama to be loved it and was very excited that I backed it in a pink print with white stars. I guess the baby's room has exploded in pink, so it will fit right in.  That's another one down and I've got two more tops to quilt, as well as lots of blocks I played with while on retreat.

Plus, since I've made my little one announcement (see previous post), I found out one of my friends is 12 days ahead of me, one is 12 days after, and another is about a week after that! So I've got three more baby quilts needed soon!  I'd like to get them done before I am too busy with my own, so my goal is by the end of the year to finish two more, and the other one in January. We'll see how that goes!

baby quilt finished

I showed this quilt before but I've finished it now.  It came out really cute.

Some detail:

And the pieced back:

I got it done super early! My friend isn't due until the end of September, but it works out. I am pretty busy in the next few weeks, and we are moving apartments as well, so everything is going to have to be packed up pretty soon.

Paintbox Quilt finally finished!

I started quilting this baby last weekend, but I ran out of thread, at around the same time that I also realized I had gone ahead and used the binding fabric for something else! So I had to wait on getting more thread and more fabric for binding. I got home from Texas (work trip again) to find my packages waiting for me. I got to work and finished the quilting and the binding!

My DH was kind enough to hold up the quilt for me to get a picture.

Here are some detail shots of the quilting--it's just stippling, because I was lazy.

Thanks to Elizabeth for hosting the quilt-a-long! I had a lot of fun with this one.  I definitely had the moments when I thought I hated it, but now I love it again.

And for Jacquie's Spring To Finish Challenge, this is my last one! I made all my goals.  I am super happy about that.

Finished!!! Here is the link to my post with my original goals.  

What next? I feel like I have so much free time....ha!

Can you believe it?

Because I hardly can.  I finished the disaster quilt.

This quilt has been haunting my UFO pile for a long time.  It gets its name from the fact that it used to be a disaster.  I think I started and pieced it sometime in 2007.  It's from a book by M'Liss Rae Hawley about fat quarter quilts. I can't remember the name of the pattern, and I am away from home right now--I'll have to update later.  Anyway, for anyone who has done quilts with LONG pieces like this one, you know that you need to cut them just right (and not WOF).  Once you are ready to sew all the rows together, I paired them up, then paired up the pairs, and so on.  This would all be fine, but I sewed them all from top to bottom.  This means that when I finished, there was a weird curve to the entire quilt.  You can't just trim an end to fix it either.  I got super discouraged and put it away for awhile, thinking that I would just cut up the whole thing and re-piece it into something different. Instead, I came back to it in the fall of 2009 and took it all apart. I measured each column and made sure they were all the same size. Then I sewed them back together, this time alternating the direction of sewing, which stabilizes the whole thing. I was much happier with it this time.  But I still didn't quilt it.  So I finally found some fabric in my stash that is a sort of shiny red fabric (I think it may have some sort of taffeta in it?).  I quilted it with soft zig zags down the long striped sections, and then just straight lines to frame it.

I actually really like this quilt now!!!!

The quilting really makes it much more interesting. Anyone got better names for it than the disaster quilt? Because I think it might stick around for awhile.

And that makes four of six items off my list for the Spring to Finish Challenge! Woo hoo!

Finally finished!

I started this quilt in January of 2009.  It's been hanging around, getting left at the bottom of the to-do list for too long.  I finished the binding and trimmed the thread, and it's done!

I think we'll use it as a picnic blanket. Of course, it's still a little too cold to have picnics right now, but it'll be ready whenever the weather decides to change.

Here's the back:

And a close up:

Ignore the bad quilting...I got rid of the walking foot I was using because I had so many issues with it. My new walking foot is much better!

That makes two finishes off my list!

Ticker Tape Finished

I finished my ticker tape quilt!

Rather than starting and stopping for each bit, I just sewed between them.  I know some people have thread cutters on their machines.  Alas, mine does not, so without it, something like this would be incredibly tedious.  It was a fun exercise and I can't wait to see everyone's at next month's meeting!

Quick baby quilt is done!

I finally had some time after all the Easter busy-ness to finish this quilt.

I ended up quilting in random straight lines, inspired by Kate and Jacquie.

I really love it. It was so fast and easy too. But it needs to go off to a little baby girl in Seattle.

A quick shot of the backing and binding.

For those of you who may wonder why my Easter was so busy, I'll just leave it at this: we had 7 people total for dinner (not too many) and we had this for dessert (in addition to the other courses):

 My husband and I don't mess around when it comes to food! :) It's a chocolate and hazelnut souffle--individual ones for guests. There's no flour, so it was safe for my gluten-free friend.  And incredibly delicious too. We had some leftover mixture so we baked a "leftover" one last night.  Yum!

Love beads quilt finished

I finished quilting and binding the Love Beads top!  I really love how the quilting turned out.  I stippled all the teal areas, left the lines unquilted, and then spiral quilted the circles.  It was really fun and the back of the quilt looks awesome.

Here is a detail shot of the quilting on the front.

And here is the back.  I really love this quilt. I hope my friend and her baby boy like it!

Another great thing about this quilt is that it means I get to check off another one of my goals for the year.  I had a goal to make a quilt with circles, so here it is.  Believe me, if I can do it, you can too!