Cascades

So this is my last quilt of 2015.  I named it Cascades, because the design reminded me of water rippling over a cascade-style waterfall.  I'm thinking about writing a pattern for this one.  It is made with one jelly roll and one charm pack of the same fabric.  I attached the label while at my sewing group at the library today.  It makes my 12th quilted item of the year.

2015 guild quilt

I just realized that I never posted my finished quilt top from our guild project this year.  (I finished it back in September, I think.)  It was a jelly roll mystery quilt that one of our members found at Carter Quilter.  The project could be done in any of three sizes, but I decided to go with the smallest of the three.  It only required 23 jelly roll strips, so I bought a package of strips that only had 24 strips in it, and was all color coordinated, as you can see.  I used solid black for my background fabric.

The top is all finished and it is ready to be taken down to the quilter.  I am hoping to have it quilted in "Glowing Embers" King Tut thread.  It is variegated red and black with seems like it would be just perfect for this quilt top.  I haven't decided yet what pattern I want it quilted in.  I know she has a pattern that is flames, which seems fitting, but I'm not quite sure I want to go that route.  I know I don't want anything floral.  I guess I'll just have to see when I get down there.

2015 Moda Quilt Top

This is my Moda quilt top from our 2015 project.  We did the Vintage Quilt Revival book this year.  I did mine in the Piecemaker fabric line by Kathy Schmitz, which is all blues, browns, and creams.  I think it has a nice masculine look to it.  If I were doing it over again I would pick different fabric, though.  I wasn't paying attention to how much of the fabric was directional.  I'm a little OCD about keeping the direction right, so that made it less fun to work with.

I decided not to go exactly with any of the three layouts from the book.  One layout had the blocks simply sewn together in rows, no border, no nothing else.  The second layout had dark, narrow borders around each block and then light sashing and dark cornerstones to put the blocks together.  The last layout used setting squares and set the blocks on point.   I thought about doing the second layout from the book, but I didn't have enough background fabric to cut the sashings the width recommended in the book.

As you can see, I decided to go with a narrow sashing in the background fabric and no cornerstones.  I like it better than butting the blocks up to each other directly.  I think the individual blocks stand out a bit better this way.  I had a good bit of fabric left over from the fat quarter bundle I was using to make the blocks with, so I decided to cut them up into 5 inch squares and make a pieced border out of them.  I still have some left even after that.

It is now ready to take down to the quilt shoppe to be quilted.  Not sure when I will get the chance, though.  It may not be until after the holidays.

Last Two Moda blocks for 2015

These are the last two blocks we had to do for our Moda group quilt this year.  The one on the left is "dove in the window"  and the one on the right is an Art blocks.  The center of the Art block was supposed to be just solid background fabric, but some of the fabric I was using had small panels, set on point, which seemed perfect for the block.  I sorta looks like applique, which makes it a little different from the other blocks, but that's okay with me.

Now I need to figure out how I am going to lay out the top.  I'm sure I won't get it together before our final meeting on Wednesday, but I'm glad that I at least got the blocks finished.  I'm thinking that I will sash blocks with the background fabric, if I have enough of it, and put colored corner stones in between.  I'm considering using what is left of the fabric to make a pieced border.  I'm not sure yet because I'm not sure how much fabric I have or how much it would take to make it.

Wonder Woman fleece

Since I didn't get to finish the quilt that I was planning to donate to the blanket drive at church (see previous post below), I bought some fleece and quickly made a fringed fleece blanket to donate.  That is what most people make for our church blanket drives anyway, so It's no big deal that I don't have a quilt, but since I'm a quilter I like to donate one if I can.  This year fleece will have to do, though.

Simply Gorjuss quilt top and pillowcase

The quilt top is 62-1/2 inches square and made from a layer cake, with a little yardage for the border. I finished it back on the 27th of last month, but I'm just getting around to posting it.  Things have been so crazy around here.  I was hoping to get this one finished by this weekend to donate to the blanket drive at church, but apparently that just wasn't in the cards.

Two weeks or so ago, I got the backing fabric cut, pressed, and ready to sew together.  I left it laying on the floor in my sewing room, so that it could be flat and not get creases in it from being folded.  Unfortunately, we got a lot of rain (Sunday night into Monday morning) and my sewing room flooded, which it had never done before.  So then I had a major mess to clean up including washing the fabric for the backing.

I got the mess mostly cleaned up (sewing room, laundry room, guest bedroom and bath) and then we got more heavy rain and flooding the following Sunday (day before yesterday).  Now I did have the good sense to not put the fabric back on the floor or anything else that I had already cleaned up, so there is much less to do now than last time.

I'm not really trying to get the sewing room put back together until we can find out why the water is getting in and stop it.  So this quilt top will just have to wait until another day and another blanket drive.  I hope normal sewing can resume soon, though.  It is depressing to not get to sew.

I did, however, make a matching pillowcase for the quilt, before all the flooding started.  It is made from extra backing, border, and binding fabric.

September Moda Blocks

Even though we didn't actually meet for our Moda group in September, we still got our block assignments.  I'm glad that we did because I want to get them finished up.  I finished up the second one today.  Just two more blocks to go.  Woohoo!!

Ripple Effect

This is the latest iteration of my "Squares for Cyndi" pattern.  Instead of using a charm pack, it uses strips of yardage.  I finished it yesterday on the way back from taking my youngest son back to college in Tuscaloosa.  I think it would make a nice wall hanging or a modern baby quilt.

Improved (?) Cascade quilt top

A few months ago I made this quilt top, without the borders.  The more I looked at it, the more I felt like it needed borders.  Plus, I realized that if I added borders to it, it could be big enough to fit a twin sized bed. 

I had not originally ordered enough fabric to make borders, so I had to order more fabric.  I used Kona snow for the small (1-inch) inner border and I used the fabric that I had originally gotten for the backing for the larger (6-inch), outer border.  I'm glad that I put the borders on it, because I think it makes for a more usable size. 

It's still not my favorite quilt that I've made, but it's okay.  I feel like it is just a little too busy.  The center of the quilt is busy, and the outer border is busy fabric.  There is only the really small, inner border to add any calmness to the quilt, and I don't think it is quite enough for my liking.  It actually looks better, to me, on the bed than it did when I had it spread out on the floor of my sewing room.

At this size, I'm definitely planning to have it quilted.  Not sure what pattern yet.  Probably an off-white thread or maybe a soft blue variegated.

August Moda Mini Project

Today I sewed together the top for this month's mini project.  It finishes 15 inches square.  The original pattern was done in red and white, but it was called "Flurry" and to me it looks like a snowflake, so I decided to go with blue and white instead.  I think it turned out really cute.  It will make a nice little table topper or candle mat for wintertime.

I plan to machine quilt it, but I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to go about that just yet.  A decision for another day.

August Moda blocks

Here are my blocks from last month's Moda meeting.  I don't love the way the Tea Leaf block (on left) turned out, but I don't hate it either.  Oh well, it will be fine.  I like the one on the right better.  I forget the name of it, though.

We are getting close to finishing up the blocks.  I'll be glad when it's done.  I hope I have enough fabric to finish it.  Still not sure how I'm going to put them together either.  I think I'm done with sampler quilts for a while.

A Cotton Rose Christmas

I finally finished my guild project quilt.  I had it quilted at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  It is an all-over pantograph of poinsettias and holly.  I finished the binding on this one on the way home from our road trip to New Jersey.  I sewed the label on on our trip to Tuscaloosa to move my youngest son into the dorm over the weekend.  Here is a close-up of its label.

Eternally Linked

This is the quilt that I've been working on for my step-daughter and her fiance for a wedding gift.  It is finally all finished.  I had it quilted at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  It is an all-over pantograph called "circles."  I finished the binding on a road trip to New Jersey to visit my mother-in-law.  I sewed the label on a week ago at the library.  Here is a close-up of the label.

My first quiche

I decided to try my hand at making quiche a few days ago.  I really like spinach quiche and I'm trying to get more spinach in my diet, so I thought it would be a good thing to try.  I found a recipe at Once Upon A Chef, bought the ingredients, and voila -- spinach quiche.  I used a smoked Gruyere in the recipe and two of my sons thought it had bacon in it, even though it doesn't.  It was really yummy.

July Moda blocks

These are the blocks we got the instructions for this month, so that means that I am finally caught up.  Hurray!  Thankfully, these blocks were not paper pieced, so I could finally start using the directional fabric in the line with a little more ease.  I was reluctant to use much of it with the paper piecing because it is sometimes hard to make sure that the fabric will end up the way you want it in the block.

The cool thing about these two blocks is that they are both made with 16 half-square triangles.  It is just the directionality of the blocks that makes them turn into completely different finished products.  Well, the fabrics are different too, but the real change comes from the directional change.  That is one of the things I love about quilting, there is so much you can do with the same simple units. 

Belated June Moda blocks

This month I didn't finish my blocks in time for our Moda group meeting.  Yikes!  Oh, well.  They are finished now.  They are the last two paper pieced blocks of the project.  And I must say, I'm happy to be finished with paper piecing for a little while.  It is not my favorite piecing technique.

Fireworks!

I actually finished this one in time for the fourth of July, but I'm just now getting around to posting a picture of it.  Things have been so crazy around here.  It is Bento box squares surrounded by a piano key border and two narrow white borders.  It is a good size for the back of the couch, where it is currently living.

For Catie and Blake

My youngest step-daughter is getting married in September and I'm working on a quilt for her and her fiance as a wedding gift.  They picked out the pattern and the fabric.  The pattern is "Chain Linked" by Amy Smart.  The fabric in the charm squares is Coraline from Camelot Cottons, and the solids are Kona white and Kona nautical.

I think it makes a very bold and striking modern quilt.  I'm not sure yet how to get it quilted.  The original (in the pattern picture) was quilted with swirls.  I'm thinking that circles might look good.  I'm just not sure yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be done with white thread no matter what panograph I choose.

May Moda Blocks

I've clearly been remiss on blogging lately.  I actually made these blocks back on the 25th of May (according to my camera), but I hadn't even moved the pics to my computer.  So here they are, my latest blocks for my Vintage Quilt Revival quilt.  Enjoy!

Peaches & Cream

This is my latest finished project, and I'm calling it Peaches and Cream.   I've been working on it (off and on) for quite a while.  In fact, I finished making the quilt top back in January.  When I made the top, I pressed some of the seams open to reduce bulk where multiple seams came together.  Most often, when I quilt something myself, I quilt in the ditch.  You can't really do that when you've pressed seams open or else you are just quilting over the stitches and not into actual fabric.  So I had to figure out how I wanted to quilt it.

I thought about outline quilting, but that would have made a lot of threads to bury and I would have had to decide what, exactly, need to be outlined.  I also considered quilting diagonal lines, in both directions, across the quilt, but that would have meant so much marking.  I hate marking, so I opted against that, too.

Then, back in February, I was reading an article in an issue of Quiltmaker magazine about quilting with decorative stitches.  I thought that would be a good solution for my dilemma with this quilt, because the decorative stitch could follow the seam lines, like with stitching in the ditch, but it would spread out and not just be in the ditch, so it would work.  Great!  But then my sewing machine didn't want to sew the decorative stitches.

I tried a new needle and I tried different thread, but my machine kept dropping stitches when I tried to do the decorative stitches on my machine.  Finally I decided that I was going to have to take the machine in and have it looked at.  I wasn't happy with the place I had taken it to before, so I had to find a new place.  I quilting friend suggested a place and I took it there.  He was really good and pretty quick, too.  So finally, the problems were solved.  Then the work had to begin again.

I used a decorative stitch and quilted a line from the middle of the center 4-patch in the second row to the middle of the center 4-patch in the third row.  Then I quilted rectangles around that center line that followed the seam lines of the quilt.  I used the decorative stitch for whole quilt center and then used a straight stitch for the seam where the border is added on (it wasn't pressed open) and in the center of the border.

Now after attaching the binding, turning it by hand, and attaching a label, the quilt is finally done.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.  It was originally intended for a baby that was due back in March, so I ended up giving her a different quilt instead.  Oh well, it never hurts to have extra baby quilts on hand, right?

Update January 2020:  This quilt is being given as a gift to Kinsley Porter at her baptism on Feb. 2, 2020 by the Blanket Guild at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Troy, AL.

Cascade quilt top

This is the newest design I've been working on.  It is made with a charm pack and a jelly roll of Serena fabric from Another Point of View for Windham fabrics.  I'm calling the pattern Cascade.  I finished making the top on Thursday.  I haven't decided for sure yet if I'm going to quilt it myself or have it quilted.

Squares for Cyndi in Gypsy fabric

This is my latest work in progress.  I wanted to see what my Squares for Cyndi pattern would look like if I used a single fabric for each round where the charm pack fabrics go in the original design.  I really like how it turned out.  Looks kinda "modern" to me.

Kansas Trouble table runner

This is a table runner that I made from the left over fabric from my Moda project last year (Dust Bowl Symphony).  We got the pattern a couple of months ago at our Moda meeting and I originally wasn't going to make one, but I decided that I would if I could use fabric that I already had.  I figured that since it would match the quilt that was on the back of the couch, it would make a good table runner for the coffee table.  I finally finished turning the binding on it today.

April Moda blocks

Today I made my blocks for the Moda class that I go to every month at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  I think I did a pretty good job of matching my seams this time.  I probably should have used a different fabric for the center of the spinning star block, but I'm sure it will be fine.

Gray-scale mini

I decided to try my hand at something that was more legitimately a miniature quilt.  It measures 7-1/2 inches by 9-1/4 inches, unfinished.  It is made with black fabric and gray ombre fabric, to get the gradation effect.  I still need to quilt it and bind it.  I'm thinking about framing it when it's done.

Turkey Time

 I finally finished binding my appliqued turkey quilt.  I decided to name it "Turkey Time".  Here is a close up of the turkey.

It was quilted at Front Porch Quilt Shoppe, with the Deb's feather's all-over panograph.  I figured a turkey quilt had to be quilted with feather, right?  I think it looks good.

Cyndi thinks that I should write a pattern for this one too.  I've been working on it, but I'm just not sure if I can do it, with the directions, templates and layout diagram, and have it be cost effective to print.  I haven't given up on it yet, though.

March Moda Blocks (2015)

I got my sewing machine back from being fixed and decided to start by finishing my Moda blocks.  These are my blocks for our Moda group this month. 

I reversed the values on the one on the left.  The original block had white where the blue is and cream where the lighter brown is.  The patches that are cream here were multiple different colors in the original.  Since I'm working with just shades of brown and blues, I thought it would work better the way I did it.  I'm sure it could have been done using the original value placement, but I opted for this way instead. 

The one on the right was supposed to be paper pieced, but I did it with "flippy corners" instead of paper piecing.

So far, the machine is working fine, but I haven't really put it to the test yet.  It was sewing straight stitches fine before I took it in.  The problem was with decorative stitches.  I'll probably be testing those out next.

February Moda Blocks 2015

Our blocks for this month at Moda U were "rolling squares" (on left) and "red cross" (on right).  The directions for both blocks had paper-piecing components.  The rolling squares blocks had paper-pieced square-in-a-square units, and the red cross block was completely paper-pieced. 

They went together pretty easily.  My points match pretty well, but they aren't exactly perfect.  For me, they are definitely good enough.

Last embellishments

I finally decided what I wanted to put on my "tag" on my present block.  I considered my name, or "from Santa", or some Christmas-y word.  I decided to just go with the year.  That seemed simple enough and would show up pretty well, too.

Finishing Touches

There were a couple of my Christmas blocks for our guild Christmas sampler that needed some embellishments.  My original plan was to add buttons and beads after it was quilted, but I decided that I didn't want to wrestle with that.  I decided to add applique and embroidery instead.  Here are the finished blocks.  (Original pics can be found here and here.)  The Santa looks sooo much better with eyes.  The snowman looks about the same because I had basted on buttons and beads in the original picture.

Bubble Gum and Penny Candy

I finished this little quilt a couple of weeks ago, but somehow I forgot to post a picture of it.  This is the finished quilt from the 30s Playtime fabric.  It is machine quilted and hand bound.  The quilting follows the stitching line, but continues on into the border and through the sashings, to make an all-over grid pattern.

I decided to name it "Bubble Gum and Penny Candy" because of the bubble gum pink border and sashings and the fact that it was made from a Moda candy.

February Guild Block

This is the last of our Christmas blocks for our guild project.  The pattern was called, for no discernible reason, pigs in a blanket.  It did say, however, that it was called poinsettia when made in Christmas colors.  We are encouraged to have the top finished for our next meeting.

My original plan for putting the blocks together was to alternate them with another block.  Actually, one of the blocks we were supposed to make, but repeated 15 times.  I made the extra blocks, got them all laid out, and then I really didn't like it.  It was too busy.  So, now I have 15 identical blocks that I don't need for this project.  But I've already got a plan for them, so it's all good.

There are a total of 16 blocks for the quilt.  I really don't want to just do a 4 x 4 layout.  I've come up with a layout that I think might work. 

The plan is to sew the four blocks in the center together and sew a thin dark border around them.  The setting triangles will be a light colored fabric.  The corners will also be filled in with a light background print fabric.  Maybe a border around that, I'm not sure.

January Moda Blocks - Vintage Quilt Revival

This year our Moda group, at The Front Porch Quilt Shoppe, is doing the blocks from the book Vintage Quilt Revival by Katie Clark Blakesley, Lee Heinrich, and Faith Jones.  In January we were given the Riviera and Dakota Star blocks to do.  In the original instruction, in the book, the blocks are done in multiple colors, but I decided to do mine in all blues, browns, and creams.  I bought a fat quarter bundle of Piecemakers fabric by Kathy Schmitz from Moda, and some yardage of one of the cream fabrics in that line.  Hopefully I'll have enough to make all the blocks. 

The book gives 3 different layouts for the blocks once they are all finished, but I'm not sure that I'm going to use any of those 3 layouts exactly.  At this point, I've decided to wait until all the blocks are finished and see what speaks to me.

Dust Bowl Symphony

This is my finished quilt from last year's (2014) Moda Friendship group/class, whatever you want to call it.  It is made from the 27 blocks in the Moda "size matters" quilt-along.  I made 15 of the blocks 12-inches and 12 of the blocks 6-inches.   There is one inch sashing around all of the blocks and some accent fabric, the same as the border, between the 6-inch blocks.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out. 

My original drawing for the layout is featured in the post Size Matters Blocks - January.

30s Playtime miniature

Last year/earlier this year, I made a quilt that was adapted from the Easy as 10 pattern by Me & My Sister designs.  The quilt top and completed quilt were featured in previous posts.  When I took the quilt for show and tell at the Moda quilt group earlier this month, Melanie (the shop owner) suggested that I should make a miniature version using a Moda candy instead of a charm pack. 

I really liked the idea, so I bought a candy, in 30s Playtime fabric, and got started.  It went together really quickly and easily.  The top finished about 25 inches by 35 inches.  I still need to quilt and bind it.  It should make a really nice baby or doll quilt.  Or it could be a baby quilt that becomes a doll quilt for one of the little girl's dolls once she outgrows it.

January (2015) Guild block - Angel block

This is our next-to-last block for the Christmas Sampler quilt that our guild has been working on for the past year and a half or so.  The block is a pieced angel with setting triangles and a border.  The head is hand appliqued.  The block, like all the rest, makes a 12-inch finished square.

I'm looking forward to getting this one finished.  Once I finish it, it will be the first quilt I've made for a queen sized bed.

My latest project

I finished this little quilt top yesterday.  I'm making it as gift for one of my husband's colleagues who is having a baby girl in March. 

It is made with two Moda candies.  One is "Mirabelle" and the other is "Honeysweet", both by Fig Tree & Co.  The original pattern comes from Happy Zombie but I added a border to mine to make it bigger.  The border is 4 inches (finished) so the final size of the quilt is 32 x 40 inches. 

I haven't decided yet how I'm going to quilt it.  I often quilt in the ditch, but I pressed several of these seams open, so quilting in the ditch is not recommendable.  I figure I will end up doing some outline quilting, but I'm not sure yet what I will outline.

10 Little Things quilt

This is my most recent finished project.  I actually finished it over a week ago, I just forgot to post it.  It is made with half of a "10 Little Things" layer cake.  It is machine pieced, machine quilted, and machine bound.  I bound it using the binding flange technique that seems to be popular right now.  It was a learning experience, and I think I would cut my binding a little wider if I tried it again, but it turned out okay, I think. 

It was made to give to the Methodist Church where our guild used to meet.  They give quilts to babies when they are baptized and they needed some "baby boy" quilts, so a few members volunteered to make some.

January Friends

The pattern was adapted from the "Easy as 10" pattern in the book, Simple Quilts from Me and My Sister Designs: Easy as 1, 2, 3.  The original quilt didn't use the whole charm pack and didn't have the side borders.  I wanted something a bit bigger, so I improvised.  The top is 54 inches by 72-1/2 inches. - See more at: http://the-creative-side-of-me.blogspot.com/search/label/work%20in%20progress#sthash.jF5S0EoV.dpuf

I finished the binding on this quilt on the way back home from New Jersey after Christmas. The pattern was adapted from the "Easy as 10" pattern in the book, Simple Quilts from Me and My Sister Designs: Easy as 1, 2, 3. The original quilt didn't use the whole charm pack and didn't have the side borders. I wanted something a bit bigger, so I improvised. The finished size is 54 inches by 72-1/2 inches.

The quilting design is "snow bunnies" done with shades of gray thread.  I thought it was a little plain with so much white, so I wanted the quilting to really show up and add some color and interest to the negative space in the design.

New Year's Resolutions - sort of

I'm not sure if these really count as resolutions, so much, or if they are just a "to do" list of sorts for the year.  Last year I wanted to complete at least 3 of my UFOs, and I did that.  So this year I thought I'd make a list of the quilting goals I'd like to accomplish and see if I can complete them before the end of the year.  So here goes. . .

1. Hand quilt something
2. Make a batik quilt  Pieced Watermelon Tourmaline quilt in pink and green batik fabrics 12/13/16
3. Make at least one project from the books I got for Christmas  Pieced Andouille quilt from Jelly Roll Jambalaya book 7/2/16 (not actually finished, but I'm counting it anyway)
4. Donate at least one quilt to charity   Sent quilt to Project Linus on 4/17/15
5. Make a quilt for my bed   Finished Christmas Garden quilt for my bed 7/26/16

Okay, I think that is plenty.  I don't want to over do it.  I'll try to remember to come back and strike through the ones I accomplish as I finish them.