Grayson's Quilt

I finished this lovely, squishy quilt for baby Grayson last week as part of my April quilt-a-thon. I am so excited- it's the first larger quilt I've free-motion quilted and I love the way it turned out. I used a meandering line pattern, inspired by Trisha's DQS quilt.


I used a lot of scraps and strings for the center panel and the detail of this quilt, using gray, black, orange, brown and red. I decided to break up the dark gray border with this little bit.


I went with a gray Robert Kaufmann flannel on the back. This flannel is so thick and soft! Since Grayson lives in the cold northern plains of Canada, he'll need a nice warm quilt most of the year.

I added some red and brown flannel from my stash when I realized that I had bought not quite enough gray for the back. That's what happends when you design on the fly- it is harder to plan yardage for quilt backs, but you get to make fun improvisational choices that lead to a more unique and exciting quilt!

The binding is mostly a gray on black dot, but I had just a few inches shy of the length I needed, so in went the white and red polka dot! It ended up being the perfect place to label the quilt.

My wishes for Grayson are stitched into this quilt- may he create a life of beauty and warmth with all the bits and experiences he encounters!

Flower Garden

The last quilt I finished in March was this Flower Garden, based on the Garden Path quilt from Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again. I free-motion quilted this in the ditch (a long story involving a broken walking foot) and machine bound it with solid dark gray. The quilting gives great texture and leaves the quilt nice and soft- perfect for the little baby girl it is going to.

It turned out that I had the perfect backing in my stash- this vintage floral thrifted find. It was exactly the size of my finished top- no piecing required! I love that serendipity- it was obviously meant to be!

Here's a closer look at the backing- the gray and yellow background tie in perfectly with two of my cornerstone colors from the front. The blue and red flowers are so vibrant and brilliant! I handwrote the label on the leaves on the back.

Flower Garden was truly a joy to make- the way it all came together so graciously was a pleasure. Made from scraps and stash, it's truly a testament to beauty we can find in what is around us every day. I hope it brings lots of beauty and brightness to it's recipient!

Baby Blocks: Blue #1

Here is my finished quilt from the weekend: a simple Baby Blocks with a lot of blue fabrics, plus some orange and green. I like a quilt of simple 6" squares for exploring different color and print combinations. I had a lot fun playing with different rotations of the stripes on this one... they turned out pretty kinetic and fun!

The other fabrics that came out to play for this one include the ducks form Lizzy House's Red Letter Day, some Prints Charming prints and solids (I love the hand on these, they are velvety soft!), orange dots from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope, and some assorted picks from my stash, including a vintage pillowcase with stars.

It's backed with a thrifted cobalt blue solid, which also serves as the binding. Thanks to LeeAnn, I was able to finish machine-sewing the binding last night and deliver it to a lovely mom-to-be today for her baby shower.

I considered a couple different quilting options before deciding on this plaid-like pattern inspired by the Prints Charming wavy plaid. At about 40" x 50", I think this quilt will be enjoyed by it's soon-to-be-born recipient for quite a while!

A Special I Spy

Here's a happy finish for the weekend... a fun I Spy quilt for a 3 year old girl who is battling leukemia. My daughters gave it the "Awww, cute" approval rating so I hope it brings her lots of comfort, enjoyment and happiness!

I feel very grateful to be able to create this for her... that I have the time and resources to make something to benefit others. Looking at the patches in this quilt, I am also grateful for the generosity of so many Flickr and blog friends who have swapped or sent me the novelty fabrics that have made many wonderful gifts. You all put smiles on a lot of faces, mine and hers included!

Let's hear it for quilts: YAY Quilts!

Bloom

I finished quilting and binding this little mini quilt over the weekend. I am really excited because it's the first free motion quilting I've done that turned out relatively decent and frustration free. Yes, I've been getting up the gumption for at least a year to give FMQ another try, and I finally did it!

This little quilt started out as a 15 minute play scrap block, that morphed into a flower and needed a cheery orange garden setting.

I tried echo quilting around the flower...

Stippling in the background...

Loops in the "grass"...

Adding veins to the leaves....

My free-motion quilting has a long way to go, but I figure one day I'll look back on this project and appreciate the journey. Mostly, I'd like to improve my stitch length evenness and figure out how to keep the thread tension balanced. My machine is pretty basic (I am kind of surprised I can drop the feed dogs actually) so I have a feeling that a proper quilting machine would make the job easier, but that's not in the budget for me for a while.

In any case, this is now a happy little birthday gift for a very special person who admired this piece on my blog. A lovely winter bloom!

Spring Strings in WInter

I had visions of being able to take those gorgeous pictures of quilts in the snow once I finished this Spring String quilt and snow was in the forecast... but by the time daylight came, it rained, and it ended up being a quilt-in-the-slush picture instead. It's warm enough that my quilt holder/ husband is wearing zoris in the snow!

Or you could say that this quilt is SO springy and bright that winter doesn't stand a chance against it. It melts snow in a single unfurling! It is really cheery and sweet....

I backed it with one of my favorite thrifted vintage sheets. I think my grandparents had these same sheets, and it reminds me of waking up in their house on the North shore of Oahu, with the sun streaming in the windows and the surf pounding on the beach out past the Easter Pond. I miss them!

It turns out that vintage sheets, being so soft and lovely, are a real pain to quilt. Even with generous pin basting, I got so many tucks that I wanted to trade in quilting for a different hobby altogether (like... housecleaning? Gah! It was that bad!)

Then came the discovery of a lifetime: basting spray (thanks to Chawne for the suggestion!) It really is better living in a can. I have 2 other quilt tops ready to quilt with vintage sheets on the back, so this introduction could not have come at a better time.


This sheet must have also been the inspiration for The Summer Lovin print from the Dream on collection by Urban Chicks for Moda. It looks so similar!

photo from Fabric.com

Let's Call Them Epiphany Quilts

My first finished quilts of this year are here! Yes, I started them in December for Christmas, but my machine got really cranky about the zig zag topstitching. I learned that when topstitching through the edge of a pillowcase turned quilt, only a heavy duty needle will do the job.

But now I can enjoy being ahead of the game for next Christmas... or a few days early for Epiphany! Complete with a shining star to top the tree.

2010 in Review

1. I Spy Houses quilt, 2. Rosebud Doll Quilt, 3. I Spy Quilts, 4. Flower Patch Quilt, 5. Crow Mahalo, 6. Doll Quilts on a Line, 7. Sun Break Quilt, 8. Baby Bricks 2, 9. Modern Rococo, 10. Baby Boy Book Stack11. Collaboration Doll Quilt 12. Christmas Table Topper

I really can't believe it is already New Year's Eve 2010. This year seems to have zipped by even faster than any before it! Nonetheless I did make time to create all the quilts above, as well as a number of other non-quilt items this year.

Looking at all these works together, I realized that 2010 was the year of giving- all of these items were gifts or for donation. I did enjoy sharing my love of quilts this year, but next year I'm finishing some quilts for myself. But before I get ahead to next year, I want to revisit my goals for this year.

At the beginning of 2010, I set goals for the year, to improve my skills, reduce my stash and finish a number of projects.

Machine quilting skills: I got a walking foot and improved my straight line quilting, but I did not work on free motion quilting. I will definitely tackle that in 2011!

Applique skills: I learned needle-turn applique this year, and tried out fusible, machine and raw-edge techniques. I love applique and want to incorporate more of it into my work!

Stash goals:

1. I did quilt extensively from my stash, and even started making a visible reduction in it. But then I filled in some gaps, and added some finds... and there's no chance that I'll be able to fit my fat quarter boxes on my fabric shelves. That goal is getting carried over to next year.
   
2. I finished a Leaders and Enders quilt top. It did make a huge dent in my scraps and stash. I enjoyed working this way and have a couple of baby quilt tops cut and ready for more Leaders and Enders work.
   
3. I did make 12 quilts this year- more if you count all the doll quilts. I have 2 ready to donate, and 2 doll quilts that I donated to an auction. One more donation quilt top is finished... so I am pretty close, but not quite at my goal of 6 donation quilts for the year.
   

WIPs finished in 2010:

1. I Spy Houses (started 2009) done 1/10
   
2. 2 I Spy donation quilts 1 done 1/10, 1 done 4/10
3. Flower Patch done 4/10
4. R's mini quilt done 7/10
   
5. Baby quilt: floral log cabin (top done 3/10) done 7/10
6. Baby quilt: "Sun Break" grey & orange rails (top finished 1/10) done 8/10
   
7. Baby quilt: shirt scrap bricks done 7/10
8. Baby quilt: blue + green book stacks done 9/10

Outstanding WIPs:

1. Stars & Strings tabletopper (started 2009, WIP) top done 7/10, basted,hand-quilting in progress
   
2. Baby quilt: spring strings (top done 3/10), basted 8/10
   
3. Donation quilt: houses top done 8/10
   
4. Bright Snowballs (started 2009, top done)
5. Applique Flowers Wall Quilt top done 8/10
6. Stash Busting Bee International Log Cabin
7. Indian Summer
8. Leaders & Enders
   
9. Say Cheese Self-Portrait
10. Seasons Mat for R's preschool
11. Crumb Blocks

On the design burner (fabric has been pulled or cut, but no sewing has been done):

1. Baby quilt: boy blocks
2. Baby quilt: rainbow book stack
3. Baby quilt: bricks & stones
   
4. 2233 Pineapple
5. Bento Boxes for S
6. Leopard Roses
7. Christmas quilts
   
8. Donation quilt for A's school auction

I'm really looking forward to 2011, and taking all the positive developments of 2010 further in that direction. Happy New Year!

The Spirit of Un-finished Christmas Presents Past

I had big plans for this little mini quilt to be a much bigger Christmas throw... it was either last year or the year before.

Then Anita's recent post about starting Christmas quilts in December... and not finishing them... motivated me to dig through my bags of unfinished projects and turn my interrupted Christmas quilt into something festive and, best of all, finished for this year.

Right after I assembled this little rectangle, my mom called to ask if I had any Christmas decor for her dining table.

Well, voila! Just in time to decorate for the houseguests she has coming this weekend. Because, you know, she's my mom and she says she likes to brag about her daughter is an artist. Hmmm. This spirit of giving is making me feel very merry indeed!

Little Boy Blues

... and a few greens! I finished up this little book stack quilt last week for a friend's new son. I have wanted to make one of these forever! It's a really simple design but I loved the opportunity to showcase large expanses of different fabrics. Maybe one day, each stripe will be a racetrack, a runway or field. I quilted it in organic horizontal lines for a nice texture.

The back is blue gingham with green polka dot binding. I like how fresh and happy these colors are together!

I wrote the label directly on the dots of the binding- I think this is the funnest label ever! Now back to doing a lot more piecing...

The Finished Sun Break

Here's the Sun Break quilt, just finished today and fresh out of the dryer, all crinkled up and lovely, taking a test drive in the grass. Fresh air? Check! Sunshine? Check! A chubby cheeked baby rolling on top? Well, it will have to take a long trip down under for that.

I used an old Old Red Barn quilt along for the pattern, with a range of pink, orange, grey and cream prints. I finished the top for this back in January, but it has been sitting in my stack of tops to be quilted since then.

I used the trimmings from the strip sets I cut into quilt blocks to make a little pillow. My daughter took this picture. She is a quite the budding photographer!

I adore curved corners and I think they are perfect on this quilt.

Curved corners might be my favorite thing about this quilt. I will be making more quilts with curved corners for sure. That little Japanese print is really cute... and I love the light, bright colors peeking through the greys too!

Now to figure out the best way to send this set all the way to New Zealand!

Blue & Brown

Here's another baby brick quilt, inspired by the Kaffe Fassett quilt from Glorious Patchwork, this time for my cousin's first baby. I made another one of these last year for a friend's baby, and had lots of soft shirt fabric left. I usually dislike making the same quilt more than once, but I really enjoyed creating this simple pattern with a slightly different fabric selection. In addition to a warmer red check, I also added an Amy Butler stripe that wound up sitting next my stack of shirt fabrics and looking rather handsome with them. Serendipity being one of my favorite design partners, it stayed in the quilt and directed my attention to the brown as a perfect anchoring color. I quilted it in brown, mostly straight, lines along the seams, and added a few wavy lines, too, just for fun.

I wanted to add a personal touch, so I monogrammed their last name in the lower right corner. It was my first attempt transferring a computer font for embroidery and I love the result!

Going with the brown theme, I knew that I wanted solid brown for the backing, but I didn't have any in my stash. I ended up cheating on my fabric diet- I found a sheet on sale that was the perfect color, and used it for a self-binding, too. It was a far better deal than buying that much fabric by the yard! And I love looking at the tone-on-tone quilting on the back just as much as the front.

Now to wrap this baby up and mail it off to it's new home.

Modern Rococo

I finished the floral log cabin quilt, which I named Modern Rococo for it's exuberant florality. It's gorgeous- a floral on floral on a few non floral prints, in soft, feminine, watercolor tones. There's a few favorite fabrics, a few fun retro prints, some vintage fabric and even a thrifted sheet.

It was a perfect day for taking photos outdoors, I just had to be careful to not get the quilt or the camera wet while my kids were playing in the sprinkler.

My neighbor's house used to be a barn until after World War 2. It makes me feel closer to my dream of living on a farm!


My three month old niece is now the owner of this beauty. I hope she spends lots of summer days like this one laying on it in the grass, gazing at the sky and dreaming of wonderful things!

The Power of Lists

Yesterday, I made lists. Lists of quilts I have finished this year, of my WIPs, and of the quilts I am planning to start. It was an inspiring and invigorating exercise: I already finished one quilt and completed a quilt top that has been a WIP for more than a year!

This is a mini quilt I made with my 4 year old. She embroidered and drew on the fabric squares, then chose the other fabrics. I did the sewing and consulted her on the quilting. I loved that she choose a machine binding so she could play with it sooner!

Mid-Year Review

At the beginning of this year, I posted about keeping focused on my quilting goals this year. Now that the year is at the mid-point, I'm checking in and seeing what I can check off my list, and what I need to hone my sights on for the rest of 2010.

Overall, I am happy with with the goals I set so far, and feel much more focused than last year. But there is still more to reach for, especially in terms of finishing projects!

First, my skills checklist:

Machine quilting: I will improve my machine quilting repertoire including better free-motion quilting.

I got a walking foot to help with my straight line quilting in February (check!) but I still need to seek out resources for free-motion practice. Shelly is a great FMQ cheerleader- I just need to take a big breath and follow her advice. That will be coming up next as I finish some of these WIPs.

Applique: I will try at least 3 different applique methods this year.

I fused (check!), I needle-turned (check!) and I have a raw-edge applique project simmering on my mental design burner. It's been great to expand my applique skills and be inspired by my ability to incorporate this technique into my work.

Stash: I will strive to quilt exclusively from my stash unless I absolutely can't find a satisfactory option there. By the end of the year I will at least make space for my fat quarter boxes on my fabric rack.

I have definitely been doing a better job of reducing my fabric consumption, but I still have a long way to go before I can eliminate a stack of fabric from my shelves. I need to up my output and get more creative about using my stash to piece quilt backs in order to accomplish this goal.

Stash: I will work on at least 1 Leaders and Enders project this year to maximize my quilting time for the goal of using up my stash of scraps.

I have a L&E project underway (check!) I have pieced enough 4.5" four-patches for a queen sized quilt! Now to start piecing them together as I sew other quilts...

Stash: In the interest of giving back as well as stash busting, I will donate at least half of the 12 the quilts I make this year, or at least 6 quilts if I make more than 12.

I have finished 2 donation quilts, and started a third one. I'm a little behind to meet this goal, but only slightly. I'd be doing really well if I can finish two more this month, but I'd be happy if I finish the one donation quilt WIP.

Quilts to finish/ make

Here are my finished quilts so far this year.
Making this photo mosaic, I realized that

1. I haven't made as many quilts as I would like (I think I should aim for at least 2 per month!)
   
2. I have finished a number of quits that were not on my January list
3. I have a LOT of projects in underway that really need to be finished.
   

Finished quilts from the January list were:

1. I Spy Houses (started 2009) done 1/10
   
2. 2 I Spy donation quilts 1 done 1/10, 1 done 4/10
3. Pink Squares done 4/10

Works in progress that need to be finished, in order of priority:

1. R's mini quilt (quilted and ready to bind) done 7/10
   
2. Baby quilt: floral log cabin (top done 3/10) done 7/10
   
3. Stars & Strings tabletopper (started 2009, WIP) top done 7/10
   
4. Baby quilt: "Sun Break" grey & orange rails (top finished 1/10) done 8/10
   
5. Baby quilt: shirt scrap bricks done 7/10
   
6. Baby quilt: spring strings (top done 3/10)
   
7. Donation quilt: houses top done 8/10
   
8. Bright Snowballs (started 2009, top done)
9. Leaders & Enders
   
10. Applique Flowers Wall Quilt top done 8/10
    
11. Indian Summer
    
12. Crumb Blocks
13. Say Cheese Self-Portrait
14. Stash Busting Bee International Log Cabin
    

On the design burner (fabric has been pulled or cut, but no sewing has been done):

1. Baby quilt: boy blocks
2. Baby quilts: 2 book stacks
3. Baby quilt: bricks & stones
   
4. NJ wedding gift - liberated wedding rings
   
5. 2233 Pineapple
6. Bento Boxes for S
7. Leopard Roses
8. Christmas quilts/ table runners
   
9. Donation quilt for A's school auction

Crikey! It's pretty clear what I need to focus on- finishing up these WIPs and getting to my list of quilts in planning! That's enough to keep me busy for a looooong while!

Going to the Fair

These little doll quilts are taking a trip this weekend to the Wallingford Street Fair.


If you're in the neighborhood, look for them at my friend Miriam's booth with the Stitchcrafty Mama sign.


These have been keeping me busy through the last few weeks of clouds and drizzle. It makes me smile to see them all together enjoying the sunshine!

Crows and Thanks and Summer, oh my!

Today was my daughter's last day of second grade. Every year her class does an expedition, or in depth study on a topic, and this year her expedition was crows and ravens. Fascinating creatures-- although they are all around us, I never realized how little I knew about them until now! Of, course, we made a thank you gift for her teacher that incorporates crows...

Her teacher is from Hawaii, like my family, so I experimented with a Hawaiian style quilt with hand-appliqued crows. I love the crisp contrast of the black birds against the white background. I did hand quilt it, which was a first. I love the look of the quilting, wonky and all.

My daughter loved studying crows, since they are so easy to observe. Her class wrote poems, built nests, and read tales about crows from around the world. I learned that crows are believed to be messengers of creativity in many cultures, which makes sense with how inspired I was to make this quilt! My daughter consulted with me on every step of the design, and when it was done, she wrote a special thank you to her teacher on the label.

This piece stretched my skills in design, applique and hand-quilting. I really enjoyed making it and hope it is always treasured. Now that I've finished all the handwork, I'm looking forward to finishing up a bunch of the quilts in progress that I've been neglecting in the meantime. But only after the sun goes down- I don't want to waste that summer light indoors!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Flower Patch Quilt

Welcome to my Blogger's Quilt Festival entry! I'm very excited about Amy's 3rd online quilt festival- check out her post and list of participants if you haven't already and join the fun!


The quilt I am showing is my Flower Patch quilt. It's a simple quilt of mostly pink squares, but
it makes me think of a garden full of pink flowers, with rays of yellow sunlight kissing the blooms.

I started it in February, when the dark and brooding winter was just beginning to give way to spring flowers. It was a pleasure to work on at that time of year, especially since my 2 daughters helped me choose and arrange the fabrics.

Because this quilt feels so celebratory of spring's new life and all things girly, I thought it would make a perfect baby gift for one of 3 expecting couples that we know. Only it turns out that they all had, or are having, boys.... so there are more quilts to make, and a baby girl out there with a Flower Patch coming her way! Maybe she'll have a flower name, and that would be perfect.

Even in it's simplicity, this quilt is notable in my repertoire as the first quilt that I quilted with a walking foot, which was delicious experience after 2 years of quilting without one. It or my hand sewing kit are my new favorite sewing things- what's yours?

Another I Spy quilt finished

I finished my second charity quilt this weekend- it just needed the binding attached but I've been riding a wave of new project inspiration that I had to see through before I could get into any finishing work. I think the purple Kaffe stripes are really cute with this! I'm donating these 2 quilts to Hope Place, an residence & recovery program for homeless women and their children. My daughters love these quilts, and I hope they will bring comfort and joy to some kids at Hope Place too!