Infinite Variety

I had the good fortune of seeing this amazing quilt exhibit in NYC today. It showcases 650 antique red & white quilts all owned by one generous collector in conjunction with the American Folk Art Museum. Each quilt is interesting in it's own right, but the entire collection shown in such a modern display is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing works of art I've seen. The exhibit is free and runs through Wednesday the 30th, so if you are anywhere in the area you must see it while you can! Throughout the year the American Folk Art Museum is also displaying a large collection of it's quilts. My mom and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit there in February. Many interesting and beautiful antique and contemporary quilts to admire. Quilting has been on the backburner for me for a while, but I'd love to find some time (and space) to start it up again, especially after viewing these beauties!

Miss Maggie's Room

I've been meaning to post pictures of this quilt in it's home for a while. I made the quilt for a good friend's young daughter. I just love how cute Miss Maggie's room turned out! Soon, she's getting a new room, as the family is moving to a new city. We wish them the best, with new friends and lots of fun.

Her mom picked the perfect shade of pale blue for the dust ruffle and pillow, and she also made the beautiful white and pink mongrammed pillow. As I ponder my little girl's future room, I hope I can give her a room so sweet.

Online Quilt Festival

Amy's hosting an online quilt festival. If you click through the link above you'll find some fabulous quilts and blogging quilters. There's also a flickr group for browsing. For my showcase, here's the Spellbound Spiderwebs quilt that I completed in June.



It was a real challenge for me to work through - not that it was hard, just tedious and time consuming. For the spiderwebs, I used small cutting scraps that might have been thrown away otherwise and pieced them onto the foundation fabric (Kona snow). Each large block required about 2 hours to piece. It definitely left me with a real sense of accomplishment.

You can read more details about it here. Thanks for stopping by!

and a quilt.

This July, I hit the quilting jackpot. First, I won a Quilting Arts video from Malka of A Stitch in Dye. Her blog was one of the first I began reading, and her work is truly artisitic and inspiring. In the show, she demonstrates her shibori technique for overdying and bleaching commercial fabrics to mimic piecing. So interesting.

Then, I won a pattern from Emily at Carolina Patchworks. I found her through her lovely Dear Jane quilt, and I'm constantly amazed at the beautiful quilts and patterns she turns out for her Etsy business. I chose "another brick in the wall," a pattern which very cleverly uses just one jelly roll plus background fabric, but, as you will see below, I had a different plan for my version.

Finally, through this flickr swap group, I was able to connect with Alison in London and trade some of my remaining Erin Michael Lush for some of her Anna Maria Horner Good Folks fabrics. It was just what I needed for the focus fabrics in my quilt. Thanks again, Alison!

So, without further ado, here she is..."book stacks"...a quilt for my sister that's been in the works these past couple of months. It's the last of the sibling quilts on my list for this year.



I adjusted the pattern by using fewer blocks and making only two columns instead of three to get a smaller lap size quilt. When I purchased the backing and binding, I thought I picked up exactly the same color turquoise that I used on the top, but they were quite different. No problem, I used the new turquoise for the backing and used white for the binding. It was a happy accident, because I love the white binding and turquoise would not have looked as good. I added some of the extra pieces of Good Folks in a brick path-style column on the back.



It measures approx. 55" x 68" and is quilted in all over paralell lines.

2 Easy Baby Quilts

Pieced from 2 Wee Play charm packs + yardage that I've had for a while. Both patterns make a rather quick and cozy baby gift.

The first is for a friend and her new baby boy. She loves Wee Play and made a family quilt out of the fabrics. Her mom is also a quilter, so I wanted to make something that could be used outside and generally loved to death (i.e. not an heirloom).


Free pattern: Charm Pack Baby Quilt from BubbaChic

The second is a design by Jodi of Simply This That and The Other for the Moda Bake Shop. If you haven't checked it out, the Moda Bake Shop blog has tons of ideas for Moda pre-cuts. This one has been on my list to make since I saw it, mostly to try my hand at prairie points.


Free pattern: Pinwheel Baby Quilt

Thanks for all the nice comments about my last quilts. I appreciate each one!

Lush Mod Sampler, Part II

I finished the Lush Mod Sampler for my brother's Christmas gift. I made slight modifications to Oh, Franssons! instructions by:

1.) exchanging block F for larger fussy cut squares of the deer/tree focus fabric framed with 1.5" borders.

2.) using all 35 blocks (excluding an extra block) on the front of the quilt to lengthen it for my tall brother. It measures 52" x 73".

For the backing and binding, I repurposed a lightweight denim duvet cover that we never used, and it feels surprisingly soft and warm. The sashing is Kona Stone, and I quilted with a matching tan thread. The all over meandering turned out looking like camouflage - very fitting for this quilt.

Spellbound Spiderwebs

You were right...I stuck it out, used up the majority of my cutting scraps and sewed four additional blocks. Just as your encouraging words suggested, the extra effort paid off with my 68" wonderfully square quilt. Boy, does it feel like an accomplishment!



The scraps I used were randomly sized and shaped, from curvy cuts down to the tiniest strips, including some selvages (even the un-pretty edges). Because I made something out of scraps that would otherwise be thrown away, this quilt is probably more "me" than any other I've made. It happily reminds me of our day viewing quilts of the 1930's last fall. Still, the improv/haphazard style stretched my typical desire for balance and symmetry...and that's a good thing.

You can read about the inspiration and my modifications to quiltville's instructions in this post.

Foundation piecing onto the white background was definitely the way to go, at least for me. It allowed me to mark all my triangle foundations with my template first, and sew as I had the time. Since some of the scraps include bias edges, the foundation fabric gave the blocks additional stability.



I was afraid, however, that the seams would be too thick to quilt. To solve that problem I pressed all the seam allowances open, trimmed the allowances at the converging points and used a heavy duty needle to quilt the webs, and I'm happy to report that I didn't break a single needle. The Kona Snow background is simple meandering. I used a disappearing marker to help guide my imperfect spiral quilting on each web.



Since the top cost next to nothing, I splurged on 3 yards of Amy Butler's Tangerine Dot (recently discontinued) from an etsy seller for the backing. It coordinates exactly as I had hoped with the Turquoise Kona binding and improv block accents.



This quilt is a keeper, for sure.

Lush Mod Sampler

It's been quite a productive quilting week around here. I finished the top of my spiderweb quilt, made two easy baby quilt tops and started this Lush Mod Sampler (following Oh, Fransson!'s March quilt-along, albeit a little late).

I bought the Erin Michael paint-by-number fabrics as soon as I could get my hands on them in November, because I heard via True Up that production quantities were small. The deer, wood-grain and camouflage prints are perfect for my outdoor-loving brother. Trouble was, I could not settle on a quilt design. I fussy-cut the deer print, then tried framing each in solids, but it just wasn't working for me. Today I found Sugared Limes quilt on flickr. Perfect inspiration! Glad to finally have a plan for this one.

Progress

My spiderweb quilt is coming along. I started it in January, sewed a little in February/March, and am determined to finish the top in June. With the latest addition of 6 blocks, it measures 45"x60", but I'm indecisive about making it 60" square. I think it would look best square, but making 4 more of these blocks might do me in. I certainly have plenty of cutting scraps left, so I may have to bite the bullet and dig in.



Check out some flickr inspiration: by cyliebug, by mle_val, by blempgorf, by RightBrainRelease

Chesnut Hill strip quilt

Has it really been more than a month since I sewed anything? Everytime we have guests, my sewing area goes back in the closet. For several weeks after our guests left, this quilt sat around waiting for the binding to be hand-sewn (and Mom even did 1/3 of it during her stay). I wasn't very motivated to finish it. Finally, a couple of Yankees games later, and it's at last ready for show.



I bought the Joel Dewberry Chesnut Hill fabric last year for a steal at $4/yard. I really love the ochre/brown Chestnut branches. Soon after I finished this favorite quilt, I decided to try the same pattern with a more orderly design. All the blocks are exactly the same. They are put together in different directions to get the two sets of boxes.

The top sat unfinished until March, when I put together a backing from the remaining fabric. The binding is pieced in alternating stripes and spheres. It's quilted in a very wide all over meander. It measures about 50" x 70".



Now that it's done, it's time to let the sewing machine emerge from storage.

Cobwebs multiplying

4 of 6 complete blocks for my Spiderweb quilt:



I love these blocks, especially together. To my surprise, each 15" block is requiring at least 90 minutes to make. It's a slow piecing process for a change. I'm going to let my scraps dictate the size of the quilt, so this may not be complete for quite a while.

Bushfire Quilt Project

A couple of 12.5" blocks headed to Tia in Australia for the Bushfire Quilt Project she's organizing.

Improv-inspired

Some Project Improv fun...just because.

Cross scarf, inspired by Bettyninja's.


Loosely following Betty's how-to, I rotary cut my fabric without a ruler. Fabrics include flannel, linen and recycled white cotton gauze which provide a lot of texture. The pink plaid lining is a recycled skirt. It's hand-quilted in the spirit of Project Improv, too - without a plan and random. Just wanted to see how it would turn out. It's funky and I like it ok. My husband does not.

Scrappy quilt, wip.

I made the four 8" blocks on the top earlier in the week without a plan for their use. I decided to frame them in some muslin scraps and will probably use it in a pieced backing for the Spiderweb Quilt I've been itching to replicate. I'm using a modified version of quiltville's instructions, but with large and small spiderwebs (like the background on her web page) pieced on a white foundation fabric. I think there are stringy scraps from every 2008 project in this one 15" block.

Miracles come in all sizes

That's my story for last week. I began creating this baby quilt and pillow for a dear friend just after the holidays. It was a good thing, because Baby Amanda decided to come 6 weeks early despite efforts to give her a little more gestation time. She's healthy, breathing well and went home just 2 days later from the hospital. A joyous little miracle to start my week.

The quilt



baby's room: shabby-chic in pinks and greens

fabric: Ava Rose by Tanya Wheelan, plus solid white and pink

design: my own, with inspiration from Greeting Art's whirlygiggles

See my tutorial on how to make these blocks.

The pillow



Inspired by Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. I used the Printed Treasures sheets recommended by my local quilt shop this time. The material was somewhat stiff to push my large embroidery needle through, but much easier to work with and has a finer hand than the June Tailor sheets. EQ Printables are still on my list to try.

Lastly, a word about the big series of miracles that ended my week as I was one of many eyewitnesses to the plane crash on the Hudson River. I am so, so thankful to God that everyone survived. It puts a lot of things into perspective about how life can change instantaneously and what really matters. It also proves how everyday people can do extraordinary things when called. I hope that your life is inspired by little and big miracles, too.

TUTORIAL: Interlocking Pinwheel Quilt

UPDATED (2/5/09) with corrected measurements. Your rectangles should measure 4 3/8" x 5" before cutting diagonally. I apologize if my original post caused any confusion or problems with your blocks!

This baby quilt was inspired by Greeting Arts' Whirlygiggles quilt that was featured last year on the Sew Mama Sew blog. I wanted more diagonal and angular pinwheel blocks that could be rotary cut to save time, so I built on her idea and discovered my own method.

The following directions make 7.75" finished (8.25" unfinished) quilt blocks. You can make the pinwheels interlocking like mine or separated by white background. Two packs of charm squares, one layer cake or fat quarters all work well. My finished baby quilt used 32 pinwheels (2 in each print) and measured 40" x 52" with borders.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make one of these. I'd love to see your pictures.

Project Improv

My 12.5" orange/pink donation block for Project Improv. I definitely stretched myself on fabric and color combinations. Perhaps there is too much going on in this block? I like it, though.



I am glad I decided to join in on this fun. Improvisational-piecing is a style I love, but have done very little of myself. You see, I love scrappy quilts, but that has been my main hold back. As much as I envy stashes like this, I keep my fabric supply small: 1.) because I don't have the space for it, 2.) in the event that I suddenly lose all interest in sewing and 3.) because I'm overly practical (to a fault) and try not to spend cash on things I don't have a plan for. I keep reminding myself that the more I quilt, the greater stash of scraps I will have to choose from. Now it seems my scraps have grown to an adequate size, so that this first Project Improv block included scraps from at least 9 different previous projects and there was much more to choose from. So, here we go...I'm not sure what my personal project(s) will entail, but I know it's going to be fun.

"Peace on Earth" Reveal

Several months back on my birthday, I bought both myself and my dad & step-mom a gift: the material to make a Christmas quilt. Their taste is fairly traditional, so I chose the Jelly Stars pattern from the delightful Fig Tree & Co. Joanna Figueroa's well-written patterns typically feature a modern method of constructing a more complex-looking quilt. This one is constructed simply with a Jelly Roll and no 'y' seams.


My fabric choice: Moda's Peace on Earth collection and Off-white Moda Marbles for the background. It's traditional Christmas colors without being outright Christmas-y.

I spent an couple of hours picking out my color combinations, but the construction of the star points went amazingly quick due to the good directions and modern methods, and lots and lots of pinning!

This is my basting area - on the carpet. It probably takes more care and attention to smoothing out the backing fabric, but it can be done. It's the only way I've basted my quilts.

I really debated how to quilt this one. I tried a couple of leaf wreath stencils and pounce chalk on a sample, but I didn't like the result. This was no quilt to practice on, so I opted for meandering in the background, squares in the sashing border and outlines in the stars. I like the variety of quilting in this traditional quilt.

I was initially worried about not pre-washing the fabrics since so many of the colors are dark and (eek!) red. Various sources have mentioned that they have never had a problem with Moda fabrics bleeding and I tested a small piece to be sure. I washed the final quilt in cold water with a couple of Shout! Color Catchers. I'm happy to report that there was no bleeding, not even to the Color Catchers. I can't say that with some other fabrics I've even pre-washed first.




I love, love, love this quilt. They opened it on Christmas morning and loved it too. Another like this may be in my future since my step-brother and his wife gave me a nice gift of a Fig Tree jelly roll.


I've been enjoying a very nice holiday and hope you are too.

Show-Me Plain Spoken

Missouri is the called the "Show-Me" state...all too appropriate for a "Plain Spoken" quilt in it and our beloved Missouri Tigers' honor.



With a little more frustration, I'm relieved this one is wrapped and under the tree. I'm not sure why but I broke 4 needles trying to quilt it. I quilted oblong curves from one side to the other, and had to stop every 5 minutes for a broken thread, a broken needle, to check the tension or re-thread the machine. Several hours into quilting only 1/3 of it was complete, so I changed my method and quilted smaller sections downwards. From then on, I had no more problems and it went quickly. I'm still not in love with the quilting, but it's acceptable and, most importantly...finished!

I hand-sewed the binding in one lengthy "Law & Order" marathon and my thumb is red to prove it. Now that it's done, I can truly say that everyone on my list is getting something handmade this year...oh, and that this may be the only year I'm a glutton for punishment to attempt a feat like that.

Evolution of a Quilt

Have you ever had an idea for a project and right from the beginning it works better than you imagined?

This is NOT one of those stories...but I hope it will have a good ending.

The idea for my husband's Christmas present was to make a Plain Spoken quilt (from The Modern Quilt Workshop) in the colors of our Alma Mater, black & gold, to enjoy when we watch college sports.

You can see some Plain Spoken inspiration here and here.

Cut, sew and lay out blocks. Wait, these colors look hideous together! Maybe that grey has too much blue in it. I'll replace it with white.

Now the darkest gold looks Texas Longhorn orange. That simply won't do! Maybe I should just scrap the whole thing.

This is the part where I remind myself that I've been quilting enough this year to know that sometimes if I just plug through the project, I might end up with something likeable.

Discard the dark golds, lay out the rest plus a few replacement blocks.

Perhaps I can work with this.

Ooh, here's an idea for the backing.

I like this one more and more.

A lesson to keep on plugging when it seems it won't work out.

Today I'm basting and quilting. To be continued next week...