denim

Happy New Year!  While everyone else is reviewing their annual goals and setting new ones, I'm hoping to catch up and finish posting a few of my 2014 finishes this week.

First up is a November finish.  Our quilt guild had a crayon challenge.  Someone dumped a large box of Crayolas into a bag and we each randomly drew one crayon from it.  We could use any hue of the color and only add white, gray, or black to it for our quilt.

I chose denim!  I found three pairs of jeans in various stages of fading and used them for my quilt.  I had lofty ideas of lots of flying geese in V formation switching out the leader, which our guild is ready to do.  I actually made lots of geese, but then thought about sewing together all the super thick blocks and losing all the points and breaking needles trying to quilt it.  I decided to go back to Modern Minimal and the Cobblestones quilt for inspiration.

This was my first attempt at improv quilting.  I absolutely love Alissa Haight Carlton's comment about moving back and forth from machine to ironing board to cutting table over and over being a calorie burning experience!
The long edge pieces are from a pair of my husband's old leaf raking jeans.  This year was their final.  I love how you can see the fading and thinning at the knees.

I still wanted our guild to be represented in this quilt.  We have lots of fun with the Lone Square pattern so I appliqued a pocket onto the back.

Because really, who doesn't need an extra place for snacks and treasures!

*The binding is a Cotton and Steel Basic in Jean Jacket!  I donated a fat quarter of it to the prize pile for my entry into the challenge.  I love our fun guild!

holiday sewing

Catching my breath from the holiday hustle to share a few December sewing projects.

Mitten tree hot pads for Michigan hostesses.  I made the blocks with the modern trees pattern from Christa Quilts and In From the Cold fabric by Kate Spain.  Each one is quilted slightly differently.  24 corners equals lots of good mitered corner binding practice!

 
I also made this mini for our family Yankee gift exchange.  We are historic Cleveland Browns fans.  My sister chose the package and fell in love with it.  No one dared steal it from her!  The football block is from the Touchdown pattern by Cluck, Cluck, Sew.
 
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and finding time to breath!

wallflowers

I've been participating in another quilt along.  This one hosted by Bloomerie Fabrics.  We've been working on the Wallflowers pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew and sharing our progress on Instagram.

We started six weeks ago by selecting our fabric.  I've been hoarding this beautiful stack of Modern Solids II for almost a year now.  I decided to use them for my flowers and Newsprint from the Paint collection by Carrie Bloomston for my background.  

We had two weeks to sew our blocks.  I decided to make a full dozen flowers for a twin size quilt.  Here are the first six.  Notice the dampness on the pavers?  The entire time I've been working on this quilt we have not had a sunny day for photographing.  And yet the flowers continued to multiply!

I finished my blocks and got them all put together, quilted and bound and still the sun did not shine.  Oh well.  At least the flowers are bright!  Here's a close up of some of the quilting before I washed it.  A simple flower in each of the corner blocks and a dragonfly on each of the flowers.  Meandering everywhere else.
 

I got all caught up in the "painting wallflowers" theme so used Brushes and Swatches, also from the Paint collection, on the back.

Here's the finished quilt...another dreary day but these bright and cheerful colors will not be dulled!

Here are just a few of the inspiring messages in the Newsprint:

• "And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin
• "Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Rumi
• "Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul." - Matisse
• "My friends are my estate." - Emily Dickinson

It's been pure joy spending days with these beautiful colors and messages.
A big thank you to Bloomerie Fabrics for hosing this fun quilt along.






Edit December 5th:  Yay!  My quilt was a winner!

An end of the week link up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

here & there

I was asked if I would be interested in donating a quilt for a community fund raising auction.  I accepted the challenge.  Yes, it was a challenge as I had only one week to complete it.  

I chose the Here & There pattern by Denyse Schmidt.  

I actually won the pattern along with these other goodies when contributing to this fund raiser last summer.  I decided to use my prize and "pay it forward".  So this quilt for this auction is first!

The herringbone, or tire tread pattern, is made up of Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee fabric (available here).  The solid is Kona in bone.

I altered the size of the pattern to make a throw quilt.  It measures about 57" x 70".  I used a few of the extra pieces on the back.  I like pieced backs.  They make it sorta like getting two quilts in one!  I also like striped bindings.

I wanted to put a bit of Alissa Haight Carlton in this quilt as well.  She hosted the Action Kivu fundraiser last summer.  Quilters may be shocked to learn that I had no idea who she was at the time.  Since then I have learned about her dedication to the modern quilting community.  So I quilted this with a pattern she suggested for her Cobblestones quilt in her book Modern Minimal.

So a tire tread on cobblestones if you will.  Here & There around town.  Paying it forward.


Another Finish it up Friday link with Crazy Mom Quilts.

textures

I've been wanting to play around with textures, both in fabric and quilting.  When I received an invitation to a baby shower I figured I'd jump in with both feet.

The front is Essex yarn dyed (a linen-cotton blend) with a block from Vintage Quilt Revival made up in Kona cottons.  

The back is a single piece of organic cotton flannel from Cloud 9.  The flannel is super soft and thick and cozy.  (The printed elephants don't march in line with the grain of the fabric.)

I've been practicing my free motion quilting and am determined to move beyond the basic meander.  I've been studying Angela Walters' books (this one and this one) and she is right, these circles make great texture!  While quilting this I was deciding maybe I should just head to the baby registry.  All I could see were the mistakes.  Angela stresses to not waste too much time unpicking quilting stitches.  Each quilt is a sample of where your skill is at that moment in time.  

She is also right about mistakes getting lost when you take a step back.  Hanging outside in the sun most some of the mistakes just kinda disappear.  (Okay, not that big one that almost turned into a rectangle.)

Then I washed it and they really got lost!  Flattened actually.  This is the first time I've liked a quilt better before washing.  But this is for a baby and washing is a must.  With more and more washings it will just get softer and softer. Soft is a good texture for babies!

All rolled and ready for wrapping.


Linking up again this week with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

a chicopee basket case

 Another Basket Case quilt from the pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.  This one by request.  

There is a bit of each print from Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee line.  I tried to not use all perfect matches in each block.  But, if you ask me, they all go together perfectly.

I used Kona Ash for the background in a few of the blocks.

I quilted each square with a geometric design.  You can see it better on the (un-

pressed) back.  

I used Quilter's Dream (select loft) cotton batting.  It drapes beautifully - even before washing.
Can you see the argyle print on the binding?  Love it!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday.
Have a great weekend!

quarterly block sharing

Phew, it's been a whirlwind month of weddings.  We've been traveling near, far and in between and I must say that after hosting two for our daughters, it is a pleasure (and an honour) to be a guest!  Congratulations to Chris & Abby, Julie & Jonathon, and Mark & Lisa!

Now for some sewing fun - here are a few of the blocks I've been working this quarter:

This is Hazel Hedgehog by Elizabeth Hartman.  I used scraps of Peppered Cottons (my favorite fabric) for this trial block.  I am in love!!!

This is from a class I took in July with Andie Johnson.  I like where it's going I just haven't had time to make more blocks...yet.

Here are the next three blocks for the Aurifil Block of the Month quilt.  Honestly, I'm getting tired of these fabrics and wish I'd chosen a different color scheme.  But now that I've won the thread I'm feeling obligated to finish.

 I think this one for September has more seams than are in some quilts! 

Finally, a few blocks in honor of our amazing sons-in-law:

These are from the Touchdown pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. 

I used this free tutorial by MolliSparkles for this proportionally accurate Union Jack.  

The footballs and Union Jack are too cute to not use somewhere, I'll keep you posted!