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.

Jacobean Garden Trellis

This quilt was finished on Dec. 23, which is a good thing since it is a Christmas present for my daughter-in-law.  She doesn't know that she's getting a quilt for Christmas.  In fact, she asked for an electric heated blanket.  She's getting that too.  I guess it will be the Christmas for getting warm.

The quilting is an all-over panograph of paisley done by the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in "reeds" thread from King Tut.  I pre-washed the quilt and the black wash out into the light fabric in the lattice so that it looks like a light gray now.  I used a color grabber sheet in the wash but apparently it wasn't enough to catch it all.  I think it still looks fine, but it is a little disappointing that the color bled so much.

You may also notice that my cat, Tiger, decided to make an appearance in the picture.  I think he matches the quilt nicely.

Thank you!

Thank you, Barbara Oakley, whoever and wherever you are. 

Today I received an unexpected package from Amazon.  Inside was a gift - a Doctor Who fleece throw - and the enclosed note said "A gift from Barbara Oakley."  The item wasn't on my wishlist and I don't know anyone named Barbara Oakley. 

So I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you, and this is the only way that I know how to do so.

At the Shore

This is my most recent finished project.  I decided to call it "At the Shore" because it reminded me more of the Atlantic coast (i.e., the shore) than it did of the Gulf coast (i.e., the beach).  It is made with half-square triangles set in an Oceans Waves setting, and machine quilted with an all-over panograph of seashells.  The quilting was done by the girls at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  The binding was hand turned.  It is now labeled and ready to go.

Again, it is not really a bed quilt, even though it is photographed, at the top, on a bed.  It just covers the top of the bed with very little overhang.  The bottom photograph is on a small loveseat.

Feelin' Groovy

I decided to name this one "Feelin' Groovy" after the Simon Garfunkel hit of the same name.  I've found that I like to name quilts after songs.  But I suppose that fits with my personality and love of music.  I thought the fabric had a groovy, funky feel about it.  Although it is displayed on a bed, it is not really intended to be a bed quilt.  It is 64 inches square and fits nicely on the top of a full size bed, but it has almost no overhang.  It is intended to be used to cuddle under on the sofa while watching tv.

The quilt was machine pieced, using my own original design.  It was machine quilted at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe using the "retro flowers" pantograph.  The binding was hand turned.  It still needs it label, but other than that, it is completed.  It was actually finished on Nov. 29, but I was waiting to post about it until I came up with a name.

Boy baby quilt

As I've mentioned before, my guild makes baby quilts for the church where we used to meet.  They requested a baby quilt for a boy and I volunteered to make one.  This is the resulting quilt top.  It is made with half of a layer cake (21 - 10 inch squares).  The layer cake is called Ten Little Things. 

The pattern is one I made up for a previous quilt (that one used almost the whole layer cake).  After making that one, which was a trial and error experience, I decided to adjust the pattern to use all of the layer cake pieces, by adding a pieced border.  Then I decided it would make a quick and easy baby quilt if I used only half of the layer cake squares.  And thus, this quilt top was born.  Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it.  There isn't time to have it quilted, so I've got to come up with something I can do myself.

November Guild block - Mittens

This month our Christmas block for our guild project was an applique block with 4 mittens on it.  It was based on the S'mittens quilt block pattern from McCall's Quilting.  Since it was mittens, I decided to go with snowflake fabrics in both the mitten fabrics and the background.  I decided on a green border because I noticed that my other blocks with borders were red, so I thought I'd change it up.

Thanksgiving quilt top

Today I finished the quilt top for my Thanksgiving quilt.  The turkey is machine appliqued using Allure fabric and Hello Fall fabric.  The charms are all Allure fabric, two charm packs less one square.  So are the two borders.  The backing will also be in Allure fabric, but the binding will be in Hello Fall.  It is some of the same chevron fabric used in the turkey feathers.  However, since I plan to have it long-armed, it won't be ready for use this Thanksgiving.

Dancing Ribbons

 I finished this quilt on Nov. 1, but I just got around to taking a picture of it today.  This is another one of my UFOs that I finished this year.  I think my goal was to finish 3 UFOs this year.  If so, then this one completes the goal.  The other two were Hearts on a Chain and Christmas Kittens.

The quilt is machine pieced, machine quilted, and hand bound.  The quilting is an all-over meander pantograph done in variegated thread.  It was done by the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  The quilt finished 46" x 66", which seems like a nice size for a quilt to snuggle under on the couch.

Here is a picture of the label.

I'm contemplating putting this one up for sale, but I haven't decided yet.

Turkey Applique

The project that I'm currently working on is a charm quilt with a turkey applique as its focal point.  I got the idea from the Big Charm Star Quilt tutorial over at Missouri Star Quilt Company.  In the tutorial she mentions that it would be great quilt to showcase any large block.  My son suggested that we needed a Thanksgiving quilt, so I thought that a charm quilt with a giant appliqued turkey would be just the thing to do.

I drafted the turkey applique myself, and I think it turned out pretty nice.  The appliqued block will finish 22-1/2 inches.  It is then surrounded by charm squares.  It takes two charm packs.  I'm using Allure by Sanae from Moda.  I thought the colors were nice and fall-like.  Plus some of the fabric made me think of turkey tails.

Size Matters Quilt Top

Here is my finished quilt top for the Size Matters quilt.  It has fifteen 12-inch blocks and twelve 6-inch blocks, put together in columns instead of rows.  The 12-inch blocks have 1-inch sashing between them.  The 6-inch blocks have 1-inch sashing on the top and bottom with two inches of the focus fabric in between them and a 3-inch piece of focus fabric at the top and bottom of each column.  The columns are divided by 1-inch sashing strips.  The inner border is one inch like the sashing and the border is three inches of the focus fabric.  The top measures 60-1/2 inches by 72-1/2 inches.

I'm happy with the design that I came up with for the odd number of blocks and the two different sizes of blocks.  I think it makes a nice sampler quilt and will be a good size for using on the sofa.

Oops, I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of the September blocks individually.  Well, I guess it's too late now.  They are all 6-inch blocks.  They are the second and third blocks from the top in the left-hand column and the second one from the bottom in the right-hand column.

October Moda blocks

These are the last of my blocks for the Size Matters quilt that our Moda Friendship group was doing this year.  The two 12-inch blocks are for my quilt and the six inch block on the left is actually for the shop quilt.  I finished them yesterday and started putting the top together.

Sept guild block - Hexi Wreath

I finished the applique on my hexi wreath block today.  I decided to machine applique it using a blanket stitch.  It was pretty quick and easy since it was all straight lines.  The hardest part was the little red hexi berries.  They are just so small.  I really don't mind applique so much when it is straight lines done on the sewing machine.