Little Bits

August 1, 20164 Comments

When I first started quilting I did not have much fabric. I hoarded all my scraps and, using Lori Holt’s advice, I started cutting them into “standard sizes” that would be available whenever I was ready with a project. After a while I had so many pre-cut scrap blocks that I had to start sorting them by color.

Late night surfing led me to Red Pepper Quilts where I was inspired by the vibrant colors of a Postage Stamp quilt. Later I spied another version of the Postage Stamp quilt blocks that used white space to break up the colors and tiny pinwheels that pointed to the corresponding color in the quilt. I knew I had to use that technique to dive into my ready-made blocks.

I waded through my stash of 1.5″ squares and tried to keep my sanity. Now I know that it’s better to cut strips, sew them together, then rotate them around to get this effect, but hey — I was a newbie, a dewy-eyed quilter, a Lori-Holt-following, Red-Pepper-Quilt-inspired greenhorn.

Plus I needed to learn how to sew a straight line — it was good practice to sew on these little bits and tear it out quickly when necessary (much more often than I care to discuss!).

Piecing all the blue bits together.

Pink postage block.

About two years ago I finished the top. It was so crisp and clean and bright! I was terribly excited! I started calling it the picnic quilt (can’t you just see mustard smeared across it?)…But it was smaller than I envisioned (56″x56″). It needed some seriously wide borders.

Quilt top inspired by Red Pepper Quilts.

I agonized about those borders for a long time — maybe year or two??? The multitude of colors stumped me. I tried many black background rainbow prints, but they always looked too somber, and lots of them were juvenile prints. I finally settled on a green lawn-like dotted Swiss. And then I waited to cut out and attach said borders for another year.

But this week I have broken through my stasis. I love this quilt, but I let it languish unfinished for a long time. Now I need to cut out the binding and search for a backing. In my mind the backing has always been red gingham to go along with the picnic theme. What do you think? Too literal?

Picnic quilt top

Sweet Violet Dream

June 30, 20164 Comments

We are, of course in the throes of summer, but just a few weeks ago I snapped this picture of one of the early harbingers of spring. I was thinking about a new quilt project and I remembered a gorgeous poinsettia pillow from the Crafty Quilter. Inspiration struck — what if I could make a wildflower pillow?

A wild violet before it goes back to sleep.

Did you know that violets are edible? Here are few more violet facts.

I have to confess once again to my love of the color purple. This project gave me an excuse to find just the right hue of purple — not blueish, not pinkish, not mauvy –my fabric had to be just the perfect vibrant purple. I found a beautiful dotted Swiss for the flower and then stumbled upon an understated purple and green paisley to use for the background.

Love this fabric purchased from the charming Barefoot Quilter shop in Rushford, NY. It is so mesmerizing that I had to buy it twice ~~not~~ because I a made a cutting error…

I drew the pattern on freezer paper first, then decided to use fusible applique as the foundation. So I traced, labeled and cut out the pieces again.

Next I ironed the pattern pieces onto the wrong side of the fabric, using scraps for the stem and anther? stamen? I wish I knew more about flowers…

Sometimes I love my fabric so much I really hate to cut it. Does that ever happen to you?

Cut out the center of applique shapes to lighten the finished product.

Then I placed all the cut-out pieces on my 10.5″ background square, peeled off the paper back, and ironed the first layer of the flower into place.

This may look upside down, but it’s really not. It’s purposefully positioned as if you were standing above the violet in the forest. Or I can’t figure out how to make this picture rotate. One of these is the correct answer.

I used a zig-zag stitch to set them in the quilt. I added a few simple borders and now I’m ready to quilt.

A series of farm-inspired wildflower mini quilt patterns is rolling around in my head. Stay tuned!

A Quilted Wedding Gift

April 28, 20162 Comments

Our son, Tim, is getting married in June! I decided to make a Christmas quilt as a wedding gift for Tim and his new bride. The pattern “All Wrapped Up” by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co. called my name.

Tim loves batik fabrics so I search for just the right ones. I found these lovely shades of red and green. Nice patterns and textures!

Next I started cutting and sewing my blocks together. I alternated the red and the green fabrics in each block.

The bow at the top of the package is a flying geese unit with two white rectangles on each side. The green below is one of my favorite prints. I love the movement in this fabric!

This red paisley print is another favorite of mine.

I made 10 green blocks and 10 red blocks and then cut out the white sashing.

I was excited to see all my blocks on my design wall but Norma, our Bearded Collie, well not so much! She matches my rug doesn’t she? She is my sewing buddy and has been known to steal fabric and run away just for the fun of it!

Next I squared all my blocks before sewing them to the sashing strips. The batik fabrics have a tight weave and don’t stretch too much but I did have a small scrap pile…looks like Christmas!

The official layout is 4 blocks across and 5 blocks down so I sewed all my blocks and rows together. This was the easy part!

The white sashing between the blocks and rows really highlights the colors and the fabric designs.

I added a 5 1/2 inch outer border in a batik poinsettia print.

The wedding gift/Christmas quilt has now been turned over to my quilter, Ms. KB. She will work her magic over the next few weeks and I should have my quilt back just before the wedding.

I might have to pull an all nighter to get the binding sewn on and tacked down but it will be worth it! I know the bride and groom will be very happy with their new family heirloom!

36 Charm Street Baby Quilt

April 21, 2016February 23, 20175 Comments

I just love the Canyon Fabric Collection by Kate Spain! The colors! The prints! They speak to me! I bought a charm pack and sewed 36 of them together.

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What to do next? I had to think about this because I wanted to showcase these beautiful fabrics.

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My goal was to make a unique border to frame the charm squares but I wanted the border to be neutral. So…I made Border #1 a solid white fabric.

Border #2 became interesting! I decided to add a series of white and gray rectangles. The rectangle sizes were a serious math problem I had to solve! I finally figured it out and love the result!

Finally, I used a solid white fabric for Border #3 so the bright colors in the Canyon Collection stand out.

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When I dropped off this top to my quilter, Ms. KB, she showed me a bead and wave pattern she had on hand. Once I saw the pattern, I knew it was perfect! Here is a close up of the front: DSCN5730

And the back…

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The gray binding is the same color as the gray rectangles. A solid color makes a nice frame for the quilt and allows the Canyon Collection to be the quilt focus.

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